Thousands protest in Boston to demand justice for George Floyd

Protesters turned out by the hundreds Sunday afternoon and thousands Sunday evening in series of largely peaceful demonstrations calling for an end to systemic racism, police brutality and justice for George Floyd, who was killed in custody by a Minneapolis police officer last week.

“George Floyd: Say his name,” Mahira Louis of Revere screamed out as the crowd around her on Tremont Street marched around Boston Common Sunday afternoon.

“I want a change I want our voices to be heard. … Just because of my skin color, I deserve to be killed? No. I don’t want to go outside and think damn, am I going to die today? Since I’m black I have to worry about that, especially for my dad and my uncle because they keep killing them,” Louis told the Herald.

Floyd, 44, was killed in police custody last Monday. Now-fired Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, 44, pinned his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as the handcuffed Floyd cried out for his mother told him repeatedly he couldn’t breathe. The incident sparked massive demonstrations in cities across the nation.

Chauvin was arrested late Friday morning and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

“Every struggle I’ve had can never compare to what the black community faces every day,” 15-year-old Brookline High School sophomore Elliot Lazarova-Weng shouted through a bullhorn as he spoke to a growing crowd of demonstrators outside of Government Center Station. “I am standing here today to say it is our job to stand up for our black brothers and sisters and do our part.”

Lazarova-Weng organized the Sunday afternoon protest with a group of other high school students following the news of Floyd’s killing.

Another group of protesters Sunday afternoon gathered on Malcolm X Boulevard, taking a knee and holding a moment of silence in front of Boston Police headquarters for 8 minutes and 49 seconds, representing the amount time Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck.

During an evening march from Nubian Square to the State House, organized by Black Boston, a group separate from Black Lives Matter, thousands of people streamed through the streets while police monitored activity.

Some protesters climbed construction scaffolding in Chinatown and scaled buildings to rooftops. In other locations, buildings and windows were tagged by protesters with the letters BLM.

Boston Police Commissioner William Gross said in a statement, “If you’re protesting in Boston this evening, please know our #1 priority is to keep everybody safe. Our officers are out in full force to guard and protect everyone’s rights. And, while everyone has a right to free speech, nobody has the right to hurt or harm people or property.”

Sisters Vivian and Victoria Lee of the South End marched alongside their parents and cousin on Sunday afternoon, calling out the names of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd who have all died at the hands of law enforcement this year.

“They’re not just statistics. These are individuals and by saying their names we give them the humanity denied to them in the last moments they were alive,” Victoria Lee said.

The afternoon demonstration spilled into the streets as protesters marched to the State House and around Boston Common to Copley Square before maneuvering back to the Common where they stopped on the steps in the shadow of the State House. Silence fell as protesters took a knee — a symbolic gesture imitating the way Floyd was killed.

“I see black people out here, I see brown people out here, I see white people out here. This is a movement for all of us,” said Peter Walker of New Bedford.

Boston Police said they would not release information on arrests until Monday. Police presence was muted at the afternoon rally as people marched peacefully. Cops were mostly visible at intersections and the points of road closures on Sunday night.

 

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2ApdMIn