MIDLAND, Texas — Jenny Cudd, the owner of Becky's Flowers in Midland, is planning to hold a protest outside of the Midland FBI field office on Friday.
"On Monday night, when the news broke that President Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago was raided by the FBI, I decided that was yet again a final straw," said Cudd.
Cudd's shop got a visit from Midland police after the department heard about the protest.
"We've had several people come into the shop today, including the Midland Police Department doing their job, asking what the intentions are, what we hope to accomplish, how many people we expect, and then of course reminding us of the laws when it comes to protesting on the sidewalk, the street, private property, different things like that," said Cudd. "So I was a little surprised that the police was here first thing this morning."
Right now Cudd doesn't know how many people will show up for the protest.
"This is something that has never happened before, it's completely unprecedented, so there may be four of us, I may be the only one there, or there may be 400 or 4,000," said Cudd.
Cudd said she has heard about counterprotests and welcomes them.
"Which I think is fantastic, because you have a Constitutional right, you have a Constitutional right to freedom of speech, so I would completely support that if there were a counterprotest," said Cudd.
The goal of the protest is action, but also to get the attention of the people and agencies like the FBI.
"Do I think that the FBI will be abolished by this tiny protest on Friday afternoon in Midland, Texas? Absolutely not, that's ridiculous," said Cudd. "Do I think that it sends a message to, if nobody else, local people? Absolutely."
The FBI is aware of the protest and sent NewsWest 9 the following statement:
"We are aware of the planned protests by the FBI El Paso-Midland Resident Agency. The FBI respects the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights. We advise individuals taking part in protest activities to remain aware of their immediate surroundings and to report any suspicious activity to local law enforcement.”