Large crowd marches in Merced, protesting police killing of George Floyd
Several hundred protesters took to the streets of Merced on Saturday for a large demonstration, outraged about the recent police killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.
The group began gathering in front of the Courthouse Museum around 11 a.m. Saturday. A march followed, traveling past the Merced police station and wrapping around the Merced County courthouse.
The event was peaceful as of Saturday afternoon. While most left the area after the march, a few dozen stayed behind to hold signs in the area of Court House Square Park.
Floyd, an unarmed black man, died after being pinned down by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin — an incident which was captured on video. Floyd repeatedly said “I can’t breathe” while being pinned to the ground by police, McClatchy News reported. Video showed the officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for several minutes before Floyd died at a hospital.
During Saturday’s protest, participants lined M Street, chanting “Say his name: George Floyd!” to passing traffic and holding signs calling for law enforcement reforms.
Krystal Campos said she had created a flier for the event, thinking it would only attract 10 or so people. She was impressed when the turnout was in the hundreds. “I’m here just to speak out against police brutality and what I think is not right,” she said.
“I think there needs to be change. I think the police need to understand that people are scared. We need to work together as a community. They need to understand that people are in fear and sometimes they act out. And the way that they treat people causes that reaction. So maybe if we can all come together and they can hear our voice, things can change. And that’s what needs to be done.”
Like many participants in Saturday’s march, Elijah Martin expressed that he was outraged after seeing the video of Chauvin with his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck. “He had a knee on his back and he couldn’t breathe,” Martin said. “We can’t breathe anymore, man, so we’re sick and tired of just sitting here in silence.”
Saturday’s demonstration in Merced followed a night of explosive protests in cities nationwide, including Minneapolis, Atlanta and Washington D.C.
Many protesters say Floyd’s death is just the latest in a series of killings of black people by members of law enforcement and others. Oftentimes, as in Floyd’s death, the victims are unarmed.
For example, earlier this year, Ahmaud Arbery was shot to death in Georgia by a former district attorney investigator and his son, who were not arrested until after video emerged months later.
An EMT in Kentucky, Breonna Taylor, was killed in March, inside of her own home, when three officers entered her apartment by force to serve a search warrant in a narcotics investigation -- for a suspect who didn’t live there. Police found no drugs at Taylor’s home after using a “no-knock” search warrant, which allows them to enter without first announcing their presence, the Associated Press reported.
Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, was killed in 2014 in New York after police placed him in a chokehold face down on the sidewalk.
This story was originally published May 30, 2020 at 1:19 PM.