Protesters march in downtown Bradenton to remember George Floyd, decry police brutality

A loud but peaceful protest in the name of George Floyd made its way through the streets of Bradenton on Sunday.

A now infamous video shows the the 46-year-old Minneapolis man, already detained by police, being pinned to the ground by the neck under the knee of police officer Derek Chauvin until he lay silent and motionless, and later died.

Chauvin was fired and later charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter after massive protests. In the days following, people in cities across the U.S. have continued to take to the streets and demand action from officials on police violence against people of color.

A peaceful march in Bradenton was organized almost overnight on Facebook by Sarah VanDweller, a resident of live-work-community Village of the Arts. Members of other organizations, including the Sarasota-Manatee chapter of Black Lives Matter, also took part, but many were casual participants.

VanDweller said that she hopes to see “immediate police reform” come out of the protests around the nation.

“The only thing that’s going to change this is action,” VanDweller said.

A crowd began to gather around 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon in the village. Dona Lee Musitano, a village business-owner, offered waters to new arrivals and directed them to masks and sign-making supplies. Sign bearers formed a collage of phrases along the sidewalk including “I can’t breathe,” “Love thy neighbor,” “Justice for all” and “Manatee stands with George.”

A group of Bradenton Police Department officers gathered across the street.

Shortly after 2 p.m., the protesters set out on a march through the streets of downtown Bradenton to the cadence of cries like: “ No justice, no peace.”

Drivers along the route showed support with car horns, upraised fists, waves and shouts of “solidarity.”

The police followed behind on foot and in vehicles, and police cars blocked traffic as the march proceeded.

Tension between the group and law enforcement came at one point when some protesters moved into the left lane of Ninth Street West in an apparent attempt to block traffic, but quickly subsided.

The march turned down Manatee Avenue and concluded at the steps of the Manatee County Courthouse, where the crowd gathered to hear several speakers.

Not just about George Floyd, pastor says

George Floyd and some of his final words, “I can’t breathe,” have become rallying points for many of the nationwide marches against discriminatory law enforcement brutality.

But his story was only one of several incidents of police and racially-motivated violence that captured the nation’s attention in the weeks leading up to the protests.

Others included Breonna Taylor, a Kentucky EMT who was shot to death in her own home by officers executing a “no knock” warrant in search of someone who wasn’t there. Taylor’s death has been the driving force of riots in her home state.

In Bradenton, other names were at the forefront of the protest in addition to Floyd, like Rodney Mitchell and Corey Mobley. The men were killed in confrontations with police that have been ruled as justified uses of lethal force, but for many in the community, the cases are not closed.

Mitchell’s mother Natasha Clemons, who has become an activist, was among those who spoke on the steps of the courthouse.

“Take this to your dinner table. Take this to your families,” Clemons said to the protesters. “This is something we need to do.”

In a plea for people to continue conversations on the issue Clemons, a nurse, also said: “I could draw everyone’s blood out here, and the blood would be red.”

The gathering at the court house concluded with a message from local pastor Arthur Huggins.

“You think it’s just about what’s going on with George Floyd? It’s a pot that’s been brewing for a long time,” Huggins said over loudspeaker. “When we here about George Floyds, and when we hear about the young man in Georgia that was killed, all of this stuff, it boils the pot even more. There’s a pot boiling in Manatee County. There’s a pot boiling in Sarasota County. There’s a pot boiling in Bradenton, Florida.”

Huggins said that it warmed his heart to see so many gathered, and called on them to continue to demand change.

“It shocked me to see people of so many different races out here,” said Laqhuan Hooks, who brought his daughter to the gathering. “And I love the fact that we can keep it peaceful. We’ve all got to stay here together. It starts with us.”

After Huggins spoke, he delivered a prayer as the group knelt in silence for nine minutes, approximately the amount of time that George Floyd remained pinned to the ground.

Afterwards, dozens continued the march towards Bradenton City Hall and the Bradenton Police Department to express demands for change.

Both the police department and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office issued statements on the day of the protest condemning George Floyd’s killing.

“The fundamental duty of law enforcement is to safeguard lives, not destroy them,” Chief Melanie Bevan said in a press release. “That this incident took place under the color of law is even more disturbing and in direct contrast of what we stand for.”

Neither department made any attempts to engage or gather with protesters. Instead, numerous officers and deputies followed the protesters standing only feet away and blocking traffic whenever they marched in the streets or blocked an intersection.

The demonstration continued peacefully with a march down Ninth Street West and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue East.

At one point, protesters blocked and held the intersection of First Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue.

Protesters formed a circle and held hands for nine minutes in honor of how long Floyd was held down by the Minneapolis police officer who held him down with his knee. Some invited the officers to join, but none did.

From there, the group marched south to 13th Avenue, before heading west toward the Bradenton Village apartments, at Third Street West.

As stone-faced Bradenton police officers and Manatee sheriff’s deputies kept watch, a mini-street party broke out with many in the crowd dancing and chanting as N.W.A.’s anti-police anthem, “F*** the Police,” blared from a car stereo.

The group quickly grew as many residents from the Bradenton Village apartments came out and joined.

One resident, Niecey Williams, came out in her wheelchair to watch the protest.

“It’s fine as long as it’s peaceful,” Williams said.

Williams, 66, too, is bothered as she watches police brutality and deaths continue to happen across the country.

“It’s sad the way the police are doing people now, especially young black men,” Williams said.

As the music continued, Alton Lilly confronted two white Bradenton police officers who stood leaning on a marked vehicle only feet away from the dancing and music.

The officers didn’t say a word as Lilly yelled and cursed at them, calling them cowards and saying, ”Eat that because that’s what we do every time you kill one of us. If you’re not speaking up, you’re worse than the (expletive) that did.”

“I’m done talking. I’ve done been to every peaceful march.” Lilly told the Bradenton Herald afterward. “I’ve said every prayer. I’ve sat in every meeting for years. I have years of dedicating my life into this community trying to deal with these people.”

After about a half-hour there, some of the protesters began to disperse while a smaller group, made its way back to First Street and again set up camp in the middle of the intersection at 11th Street.

Tensions briefly rose as some protesters surrounded sheriff’s office vehicles and threw water at one. But other protesters, determined to keep it peaceful, intervened and the deputies were able to drive away.

Deputies and officers then kept a distance, watching and blocking traffic from a few blocks away.

The protesters then took their march up and down through the neighborhood streets between First Street and Ninth Street West.

This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 2:29 PM.