Fort Worth protesters cheer officers’ arrests in Floyd murder, but want local change
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the status of Lori King Nelson, who is a member of First Christian Church.
For the sixth day in a row, a crowd gathered outside the Tarrant County Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon for a march through downtown Fort Worth to protest police brutality against people of color. A separate protest had been planned at University and 7th streets, but that group joined the protest outside the courthouse instead.
Protesters cheered as someone announced the Minneapolis officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck faces an upgraded charge of second-degree murder. Three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest also were charged Wednesday with aiding and abetting his murder.
But several protesters said there is still change that needs to happen in Fort Worth.
“I am hoping to accomplish us working toward peace and equality,” said Taylor White, 20, who moved to Fort Worth from Louisiana five years ago. “We want peaceful equality. And to bring attention to it. Even talking about it, having a conversation about it.”
“We’re tired of fighting for no reason,” she said. “We want change and we want it now. It’s been decades and decades of struggles between lynching and slavery. Not just for black people but for everyone of color.”
“I’m scared to walk out of my house. I’m scared to even be here right now, but I have to be,” White said, pausing to wipe away her tears. “I’m scared to be here, but I’m here and I’m trying and we’re doing the best we can. It’s hard to talk about, but it has to be talked about. If we don’t bring attention to it, we will never be heard.”
Lori King Nelson, a member of First Christian Church downtown, which is part of the Disciplines of Christ, said, “I’ve been asking myself why we are here now with so much more participation than there was in the past. But something is different this time, and something is changing. And I think we are actually going to be able to make a change in the training in our police department.”
Nelson said she hopes to see “police officers within neighborhoods that actually reflect those in the neighborhood instead of taking officers like the one who murdered Atatiana Jefferson who, even in his interview, said he wanted to be part of the police department because it was like being in war without going to war.”
A group of activists has been speaking at city council meetings, she said. “We have been pushing (Mayor) Betsy Price to make changes, and if she wants to be re-elected, she needs to make some changes.”
“We need changes to the systemic nature of racism within our police department, not just here but across the nation,” Nelson said. “But what Betsy can do is make a difference here by bringing in and enforcing this training — encouraging and enforcing the need for police officers — the good police officers — to let the bad officers know it won’t be tolerated in our police force.”
Price stopped by near the beginning of Wednesday’s march, a protest organizer said. Price told the protesters she didn’t want to “make it about her” but said she understands and supports the protesters, according to the organizer.
Juliet Taylor attended the march with her 13-year-old son Shiloh.
“As you can see, (our) sign says, ‘When do I go from cute to dangerous?’ As he begins to get taller, I see that certain adults look at him differently.
“It just hurts my heart to know that as he gets older, he’ll be looked at as a threat and not as my cute, cuddly son that I love,” Taylor said. “I’m hoping this will spark change so that people don’t see him for his color, but for the content of his wonderful character.”
“When I saw George Floyd lying on the ground dying, I actually thought about him,” Taylor said. “And I thought, that could be my son, that could be him. ... As I heard he was crying out to his mom, I thought of (my son) crying out to me.”
Another mother, Courtney Fuhrman, was there with her 3-year-old son, Aiden Amos.
“If something doesn’t happen and something doesn’t change, I’m terrified something will happen to him,” Fuhrman said. “And when they look at him, they’re going to see a black kid. It’s not going to matter where he comes from or how he was raised.”
“There should be a system in place to protect the people,” she said. “It should have never gotten to the point where (an officer) can pin someone to the ground and murder them in the street. And say his badge protects him and he is allowed to do that. And he should never have felt comfortable enough to do that.”
Rod Smith, 33, has run as a candidate for city council and says he wants police reform.
“Hopefully we see police start to treat black families as equal,” he said. “Stop killing our black men. Stop killing our black women. Stop looking at us as the enemy.
“In the city of Fort Worth, what could happen is we could have a civilian review board that has subpoena power, which would allow us to see exactly what they’re seeing without them trying to hide evidence,” Smith said.
“We want a seat at the table,” he added. “And because they’ve never given us a seat at a table, we’re created the table ourselves and we’re going to bring our own seats to the table. And (they) can sit down with us.”
Protesters planned to hold a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. in advance of the citywide curfew beginning at 8. Some protesters remained downtown and marched peacefully after curfew on Monday and Tuesday nights.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 4:57 PM.
