June 1, 2020 | 5:12 PM

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse vows better coordination of George Floyd protests, starting Monday night

Wallace McKelvey/PennLive

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Watchdog reporter covering politics, environmental issues and the "sin beat." Contact me at wmckelvey@pennlive.com or follow me on Twitter @wjmckelvey

Brett Sholtis / WITF

A crowd gathers in front of the Pennsylvania capitol in Harrisburg as part of a protest against police and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that the city learned several valuable lessons from this weekend’s protests, which began peacefully but occasionally grew chaotic and even violent.

Starting with Monday evening’s planned protest at the Capitol, Papenfuse said all future protests will include greater communication with organizers, increased involvement by local officials and clearly marked routes. He met with local Black Lives Matter activists Monday afternoon to receive feedback on how the city could be more responsive.

“One of the lessons of the last rally was there wasn’t communication between the organizers and the city ahead of time,” the mayor said. “No plan, no marked routes, no clear agenda. That’s something we really want to try to see because it helps everything run smoothly.”

Papenfuse said city officials will also try to be in attendance for the rallies. For example, Police Commissioner Thomas Carter will speak at the rally on Monday night while Papenfuse plans to join a march against injustice and gun violence planned for Wednesday.

While Carter could not be at Saturday’s protest until after it turned confrontational — he was at a baby shower that morning — his presence clearly had a calming effect. The longtime police chief stood on the front line between protesters and law enforcement officers, actively engaging protesters. He wore a mask as protection from COVID-19 but none of the riot gear or shields worn by other law enforcement at the scene.

“It was a pleasant conversation,” Carter said Monday, of his interaction with one activist. “I plan on contacting him, taking him out to lunch and just listening to him.”

In his various public statements on Saturday and in the days since, the police commissioner said he empathized with the protesters’ message — but not the furor that sometimes accompanied it — and with the family of George Floyd, the Minnesota man whose public death at the hands of police spurred days of protest nationwide.

Floyd was suspected of passing a counterfeit bill at a Minneapolis convenience store. He died in police custody after an officer was captured on video kneeling on his neck for several minutes. That officer has been charged.

“I would like to say to all of the young people out there: I feel your pain,” Carter said at a press conference Sunday. He noted that he grew up with “the same fears you have right now.”

Community outreach, he said, is crucial to warding off further conflict, regardless of race.

“I’ve walked through the neighborhoods of Harrisburg and I’ve seen my white officers interacting with people of color,” Carter said Monday. The city’s residents “want to know you care about them. The white officers I have on my force do a great job because they show the concern that I show and the empathy that I show.”

Papenfuse, who has praised Carter’s efforts, said he’s worked with the organizers of Monday night’s event so everyone is clear about the role of law enforcement.

That was not the case on Saturday, he said.

“When [the protesters on Saturday] saw the police directing traffic, they didn’t realize what they were doing,” the mayor said. “They thought the police were there for other reasons. If we’d had a clear discussion, we might have been able to handle that better.”

In addition to speaking with the organizer’s of Monday’s protest, which will begin at 5 p.m., Papenfuse said the city is also in contact with the organizer of a march planned for Wednesday.

Ralph Rodriguez Sr., one of the organizers of Wednesday’s march set to begin at 1 p.m., said he’s coordinated with the police department on the route marchers will take between the Capitol and the community center at 1801 North 3rd Street, where various local officials will speak.

The organizers are working to avoid possible conflicts, Rodriguez said. That’s one reason attendees won’t remain at the Capitol steps for long.

Yelling, that’s great,” he said. “We can’t tell people how to mourn and grieve. But we can offer solutions on how to move forward.”

While the event was spurred by Floyd’s death, Rodriguez said its focus is on local issues.

“We have to save our babies and we have to start now, from the ground up,” he said. “And we have to sustain it. We have to give our youth solutions.”

As of Monday, however, Papenfuse said the city has not been able to speak with the organizer of two simultaneous protests planned for June 8, described on Facebook as a George Floyd protest and a gun rights rally, respectively.

The fact that both events were hosted by the same Facebook user gave rise to fear that it could be an attempt to sew more discord in the streets of the capital city.

Carter, Papenfuse and many other local officials in cities nationwide have noted that the vandalism and violence was often perpetrated by outsiders rather than local activists. As of Monday, Papenfuse said it’s not clear that there’s a good way to separate outside instigators from genuine protesters.

“We’re concerned about the plans for the 8th,” he said. “We’re monitoring it closely.”

Wallace McKelvey may be reached at wmckelvey@pennlive.com. Follow him on Twitter @wjmckelvey. Find PennLive on Facebook.

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Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse vows better coordination of George Floyd protests, starting Monday night

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