Black Lives Matter leads Bradenton protest demanding justice for Breonna Taylor
Members of Black Lives Matter Sarasota-Manatee Alliance peacefully marched through Bradenton on Thursday evening to protest police brutality and racial injustices, after a Kentucky grand jury declined to indict three Louisville, Ky., police officers in the death of Breonna Taylor.
The protesters gathered, homemade signs in hand, at the intersection of First Street and Ninth Avenue West/Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Bradenton.
“Everybody’s lives matter. It’s just the racism that we’re tired of,” said Phyllis Dunbar, a Bradenton resident who attended the protest. “We want to be treated the same.
“It’s been time for a change. Even with the protests, we’re just making a lot of noise,” Dunbar said. “There have been no changes at city hall, no changes at the White House, no bills being passed. That’s why it’s so important for the people to get out and vote.”
The group included about 40 people of various ages and ethnicities. They marched to rallying cries that have rang out countless times at racial justice marches across the U.S. this year, such as “No justice, no peace, no racist police.”
Before beginning their march, organizer Deedra Zee spoke for a few moments to those gathered about Taylor.
“We all saw it coming. We all knew the officers were going to get off for Breonna Taylor’s death,” Zee said. “Then they made it even crazier, even more demonic in this country. We’re going to overlook the dead, shattered body riddled with bullet holes that we left in bed and we’re going to look at the wall because the neighbor’s wall meant more than Breonna’s life to us in America.”
The Louisville police officer charged in the case, Brett Hankison, was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for the shots that entered a neighboring apartment.
Zee cited Malcom X, who would speak in the 1960’s about how the Black woman was the most neglected, the most disrespected and the most unprotected person in America.
“It’s spiritual for me as a Black woman standing before you,” Zee said.
On Ninth Street West, just past Motorworks Brewing, more than a dozen police officers arrived within moments for a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by activist Eleuterio “Junior” Salazar Jr., who was driving slowly alongside a group of protesters. He was carrying water and snacks in the trunk of his car for marchers.
An undercover police officer had previously pulled up behind Salazar and flashed his sirens for just a second, before eventually driving off.
Salazar appeared to cooperate as protesters addressed their chants at the officers, watching and video recording as Salazar was cited.
Among the officers was Assistant Chief Josh Cramer.
“At that point it was safety issue,” Cramer told the Bradenton Herald when asked about the heavy Bradenton police presence for a traffic stop involving someone who was cooperative. “The officer that did the stop was in training and I had a training officer with him. Then the back-up officer was a two-person unit.”
Cramer justified the arrival of the other officers, saying the “crowd was encroaching on the officers.”
The protesters who were trying to record the stop moved to the sidewalk immediately when asked to do so, however. Internal affairs investigators also stood by recording the traffic stop with small video cameras.
The traffic stop drew the attention of patrons in the Motorworks beer garden. Several came out to the sidewalk, one man carrying a flag in support of President Donald Trump.
Many protesters wore t-shirts bearing the slogan “Black Lives Matter” or Breonna Taylor’s name.
Kaitlin Morgan, 28, was wearing a shirt that said, “You’re pretty” with the words, “for a black girl” with line through the words.
“It touches home,” Morgan said. “I’m Black and white, so I get both sides.”
Morgan began protesting with the group earlier in the summer, and felt it was important to do for her two children.
“I want them to see that they can have a voice,” Morgan said.
“The movement out here, it’s powerful,” said Nicolas Romain, a Bradenton resident who joined the protest as it marched down MLK Avenue. It was his first time participating in a march. “I just felt the power. It’s going to get through,” Romain said of the group’s message about racial injustice.
The march made its way back to the intersection of First Street and MLK Avenue before wrapping up at around 7:30 p.m.
Legislation proposed by governor targets protests
Exercising the First Amendment right to peacefully protest could become more risky if new legislation proposed this week by Gov. Ron DeSantis is passed.
Organizer Sarah Parker stressed safety tips before the protest, citing concerns with the legislation.
The vaguely worded act promises felony charges for people involved in assemblies that become violent or “disorderly.” It also contains sections that would prohibit blocking roadways, harassing or intimidating business or restaurant patrons as well as attach criminal organization liability to organizers or funders of protests that become violent or disorderly.
In the Bradenton-Sarsosota area and throughout Florida, protests have been markedly peaceful compared to elsewhere in the U.S.
Bradenton Police Chief Melanie Bevan stood behind DeSantis as he announced the measure at a press conference on Monday.
The act also takes aim at one of the Black Lives Matter movement’s top priorities: reallocating some law enforcement funds to other community and social services, a concept often referred to as “defunding the police.”
Under a subsection of the act, any local government that cut funds to law enforcement services would be prohibited from receiving state grants or aid.
This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 5:24 PM.
