A large group of black women went to the beach in Belmar at the end of August to play volleyball, practice yoga, swim and enjoy the weather.

Along the way, something went awry, according to organizers of the event, called Black Girl Beach Day, prompting complaints by the women that they had been harassed by police.

“Beaching while black — now it’s taken on a whole new meaning,” Snap Lancaster, a co-founder of the event, said of the group's experience, described in an Essence magazine article and viral video.

Black Girl Beach Day brought more than 300 women to Belmar on Aug. 27, a picturesque Monday, according to the Essence report. The women say that within five minutes of arriving on the beach, they were approached by officers who questioned their presence and right to play music and frolic on the beach in peace, according to the report.

"I’m grateful and I’m happy that everyone enjoyed it, but to show up and within five minutes to be smacked in the face with harassment and police and feeling like I don’t belong — it was really hurtful,” said Christina Bright, another event founder.

“I felt instant anxiety because I know how quickly things with the police can go left and I felt, in a sense, responsible,” Bright said.

Belmar police, contacted by the Press, denied that the group had been mistreated. For a video on Black Girl Beach Day, scroll up.

Andrew Huisman, the Belmar police chief, said complaints about loud music from other beachgoers prompted his beach patrol unit to speak to the women.

The group did not obtain a permit for an event of more than 75 people and was in violation of ordinances banning generators and amplified speakers on the beach, Huisman said.

They shut down the speakers after being approached, Huisman said. He said no summons was issued and the event continued.

"The complaints were invalid and inflamed," Huisman said.

Black Girl Beach Day organizers said the impetus for the outing was rooted in positivity.

“The mission of Black Girl Beach Day was to create a safe space for women of color promoting inclusivity, solidarity and sisterhood,” Lancaster says in the video.

The article and video, which has drawn more than 985,000 views, goes on to describe how quickly things went south for the organizers.

Bright of Newark said the women were confronted by police not long after their arrival.

Bright did not detail the exchange but a segment of the video shows her interaction with police.

In it, she explains to police that she contacted someone — it’s unclear whom — to ask permission to hold the event.

“They said, ‘It’s fine.’ They said, ‘You want to set up on the beach?’ I said, ‘If I want to bring my speakers and set up on the beach and play music if I’m inviting a bunch of friends, is that OK? And they said it was OK,” she says in the video.

Bright spoke to the Asbury Park Press Wednesday night, but said she was undecided on being interviewed. She did not return calls Thursday.

The incident follows a string of events locally and nationally involving the mistreatment of black people engaging in day-to-day activities. Many of the episodes played out on videos that went viral.

The incidents include a visit by a group of young black girls who went to Jenkinson’s Aquarium gift shop in Point Pleasant Beach in August and were told to leave by an employee who said they weren’t welcome there.

MORE Jenkinson's welcomes back black girls who were kicked out

A video of that encounter went viral and the employee was fired. Jenkinson's said employees would undergo diversity training. Jenkinson’s invited the campers from Paterson back for a VIP visit. The director of the Paterson-based summer youth camp praised Jenkinson's followup, according to prior Press reports.

Elsewhere:

Police in Wisconsin detained a black man heading home from church with his white grandmother after two people told police he was robbing her.

A woman in Memphis called police on a black real estate investor who was working on a neighboring property he'd recently purchased.

A black Yale student had to prove to both a fellow student and campus police that she was a student and lived in her dormitory.

Two black men were arrested while waiting for a friend at a Philadelphia Starbucks. The incident led to the national chain shutting down for a day to hold racial bias training for its workforce.

Bright says in the video she was reluctant to call out the police but the exchange disturbed her.

"Why is it that anything that’s more than five of us in a group scares you, right? We just really wanted to have a day where we can enjoy, relax, be carefree, kind of like let our hair down," Bright says.

“Just to put your feet in the sand, to do yoga that is a part of resisting, right? Just to have fun and enjoy your life and not let anyone or anybody encroach into your personal space and just being who you are and specifically just being black.”

“In 2018, it’s hard to be free because our freedom is a threat to the privilege of others,” Lancaster says. “It’s like what are you doing in my area? What are you doing enjoying the things that I like to enjoy?”

Huisman in a statement released Sept. 21 said the department will work with the group prior to the event next year if they wish to come back.

“Everyone is welcome at the Belmar Beach. If this group wants to return next summer, we’d be happy to help them apply for a Special Event Permit so that their event could be held without surprises and violations — just beach fun,” he wrote.

Ken Serrano: kserrano@gannettnj.com; 732-643-4029