An Okotoks Photographer was a witness to history Saturday, June 6, at the Black Lives Matter rally at Calgary's Olympic Plaza.

Patrick Nicol went down to take photos during the protest, that saw thousands of people descend on the City's downtown.

He says he came away with some distinct impressions.

"One thing that was quite common was they (protestors) were angry, they were upset. But they were respectful. There was no violence. They were there to hear the speakers and they were there to let people know that what happened in Minneapolis and in other places around the world is not acceptable."

He says, unlike some protests in the United States, he never felt the rally was going to become violent.

"I didn't get that sense from Calgary's perspective. I really got the sense that, even though you could hear a few pockets of malcontents screaming and yelling, I really got the sense there was going to be no violence at all. The point was they wanted to convey a peaceful message of dissent, and not a violent message of destruction."

Nicol says he's surprised we're still discussing this issue of racism in 2020, saying he feels this should have been eliminated long ago.