Two days after the outburst, damage control. "I think it was inappropriate for me to say that," Gantt said. It makes more sense, he says, if you'd known about an earlier conversation he'd had with a deputy posted at the door. "I saw that there was a backup on the first floor, I then asked the leiutenant why are we doing this when we always ask people to participate in government. He said to me, the reason we are doing this, is because of the situation in Missouri," said Gantt. We asked, "Shouldn't you be doubly careful about yelling things like that out, particularly in a community like this that has been wracked by violence recently?" "The fact is, even then, I never said we ought to do that, I believe I said, and you can go back to the tape, maybe this is what happened to the person in Missouri," Gantt said. Notwithstanding his comments, he says there was no threat of violence Tuesday night. "This was a peaceful, non-violent protest. And that's exactly what I've always said and what I've always maintained and will continue to maintain," Gantt said.
