CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio — Chagrin falls on Cleveland’s East Side is a quaint village, home to local shops and restaurants. Its population is nearly 98 percent white.

In light of recent events, 15-year-old Chase Tuller planned a Black Lives Matter protest there.

“It was all meant to be peaceful, you know? That was the intent. We were going to come down here to show support for the cause. And once I did plan that I put out a flyer and I started getting all kinds of phone calls and texts, people threatening me and making it very clear that they didn't want this sort of event going on in their town,” said Tuller.

On a Facebook post discussing the protest, one man wrote that he hopes local businesses file claims against Tuller’s parents.

Tuller says he worked with police to ensure the protest would remain peaceful.

“I was never worried about that, just because I know this town, I know our police department and I know that they were gonna do everything they could to protect us.”

After receiving backlash, Tuller decided to cancel the protest scheduled for Tuesday— but it happened anyway.

“You know, they made it clear that just because I canceled the event [they were] gonna still show up and show their support. So I heard that there were a lot of people there so I decided to show up myself. And when I saw everyone there, I was so surprised. I thought it was really amazing to see everyone there so in support,” Tuller said.

On Wednesday, you could see storefronts in Chagrin Falls were boarded up, but owners said it was a precaution measure. No windows were broken.

“You know, it's interesting to see the way that we were greeted by the town with all the boarded up buildings as you see behind me, when it was really just a peaceful event. You know, I had a reverend next to me and we were speaking to the group and kind of leading the group, people speaking about experiences about what it's like to you know be black living in Chagrin Falls and all sorts of stuff like that,” said Tuller.

Business owners Spectrum News spoke to said they boarded up after seeing other businesses do it and they were worried about their businesses after being closed due to the pandemic.

"It's kind of caused a lot of controversy here, you know, some business owners are really mad that they boarded their business for no reason. Some, you know, just thankful that they did it because nothing happened,” said Tuller.

Despite backlash, Tuller will continue to speak out and protest.

“It’s really important for people, even if you don't have certain issues that are directly impacting you, it's important to speak out for other people and try to support other people even if it's not, you know, these issues don't directly impact me necessarily, but I can see how they affect other people and I need to show support for that and support for the community.”