Black Lives Matter brings protest to Bradenton

It was a little after 11 a.m. Saturday, and a few dozen people were milling around the Downtown Central Library. A few of them had already picked up the bright yellow signs off the ground. Most of the signs had “Black Lives Matter” printed in bold black letters. Some had the words “Justice 4 Rodney Mitchell.”

Mitchell was a 23-year-old African-American man from Bradenton who was killed by Sarasota County sheriff’s deputies in June after a routine traffic stop turned violent. Police allege that Mitchell tried to run them down.

Most people who were visiting the library took little notice of the protesters. Others voiced an opinion.

“Black power!” called out one African-American man as he walked into the library.

“What a joke,” sneered a white man who walked in a minute or two later.

By 11:30 a.m. the number of protesters had grown to about 60. About half were African-American. They were there to protest against what they allege is a record of racism and violence against black people on the part of Bradenton Police Department.

Last month, the organizer of Saturday’s protest, Manatee County NAACP President Rodney Jones, asserted that data show “potential racial profiling” by the police department and that blacks are over-represented in traffic stops, police-involved shootings and deaths.

Bradenton Police Chief Melanie Bevan disputed Jones’ allegations in an email to him in October. “Fundamentally, the data serves as a starting point for further data collection and dialogue, with a stronger focus on outcomes,” the police chief wrote. “Consequently, I believe it is irresponsible to conclude that members of BPD have engaged in disparate treatment of African-Americans based strictly on the statistics without conducting detailed analysis of the incidents that generated this data.”

Ruth Beltran, who identifies herself as an organizer with the Suncoast ANSWER Coalition and Black Lives Matter Manasota, led the group in some practice call-and-response chants.

“Mass incarceration,” she shouted. “Shut it down,” the crowd said. “The new Jim Crow,” she said. “”Shut it down,” they chanted. “The whole system,” she said. “Shut it down,” they replied.

The protesters, most of them holding signs, left the library parking lot and headed down Old Main Street, where the Bradenton Farmers Market was going on. A woman with a bullhorn kept leading chants as the protesters walked the three-block length of the market. One vendor who asked not to be identified wrote the words “All lives matter” with a ball-point pen on a piece of notebook paper and held it up as she walked up to the protesters. Another vendor grumbled that the protest was disrupting business.

When the crowd chanted about taking back “our streets,” one onlooker shouted “MY street.”

But the protesters had some support among the vendors.

Andrea Salazar owns a business called Dolce that was selling baked goods at the outdoor market. She’s an American citizen and has lived in the United States for 16 years, but she spent the first part of her life in South America.

“I am from Colombia,” she said. “I think we have to keep our country united, and we have to fight for our rights.”

At the south end of the market, a couple of Bradenton police officers watched the protest from the sidewalk. Even though they heard the chants of “the police in this hood are no good,” they said they were unbothered.

“We’re just here to make sure they get to say what they want to say,” said Assistant Chief Paul McWade. “It’s their First Amendment right.”

He also acknowledged he was there to make sure the protests didn’t interfere with the farmers market activities.

McWade said he couldn’t comment on whether he thought the protesters had a legitimate point.

“Our chief has tried to reach out to them to find out what their point is,” he said. “I’ve reached out to them myself. I sent a email and I called. I haven’t gotten a response.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2016 at 10:47 AM with the headline "Black Lives Matter brings protest to Bradenton."