‘We are not stopping.’ Protests continue in Fort Worth over death of George Floyd
More than 500 people gathered on the steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse on Friday, the eighth day of demonstrations in downtown Fort Worth denouncing police brutality and protesting the death of George Floyd.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in Minneapolis, Minnesota after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed face down in the street.
“This is about the lives of those we’ve lost and everyone who’s been a victim to police brutality,” said Carol Harrison-Lafayette, one of the United My Justice organizers who led the group around downtown for a few hours. “We are not stopping. We are gaining momentum, and we will be back for a ninth day of peaceful protests.”
The group began marching shortly after 6 p.m. They went down past the bus station, the convention center and back up to the courthouse where they ended around 7:30 p.m. chanting, “I can’t breathe,” and “No justice, no peace.”
This was the second day of protests for Elisha Hinton, 46, of Fort Worth and her two sons. “I’ve seen people of all races standing for the same cause. That’s what has to happen if we want change to happen.”
After the courthouse, half the group of demonstrators made their way down to West Seventh Street where they crossed the bridge in silence as the sun set over the horizon and a full moon rose behind them. Lucid Shinobi, 23, of Fort Worth who led the group and called for the moment of silence said it was to catch their breath and show police this was a peaceful protest.
“It was an opportunity to reflect on everything that we’ve done and how far we need to go,” Shinobi said.
On Sunday, protesters clashed with police on the West Seventh Street bridge. After an hours-long stand off, state troopers used tear gas to disperse the crowd and break up the protest.
Alexa Weekly, 19, of Fort Worth said this was the opposite. “It was euphoric. I was reflecting on the beauty of this moment. We just want equality and everyone of all different colors and shades on that bridge was there together as one.”
The group of some 300 people joined another group of protesters that had met at the Target off Seventh Street, 301 Carroll St., and stayed in the Linwood and University Park area throughout the evening. The new group of about 400 went around Harold Street once and stayed in the Montgomery Plaza area well past 9:30 p.m.
Streets were temporarily closed to vehicles and reopened when marchers had passed. Police officers in squad cars and on motorcycles, bicycles and horseback were on the edge of the demonstration.
No arrests or acts of violence were observed throughout the evening.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 5:44 PM.
