Brooklyn Honors Floyd With Memorial and March to Manhattan
As over a week of daily protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis continued across New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio was met with booing from demonstrators at a memorial march in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon.
BROOKLYN (CN) — As over a week of daily protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis continued across New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio was met with booing from demonstrators at a memorial march in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon.
Before the mayor even spoke, a crowd of over a 1,000 chanted, “De Blasio, go home,” clapping to the beat as the mayor crossed the stage in Cadman Plaza park in downtown Brooklyn.
The memorial event’s organizer, the Rev. Kevin McCall, repeatedly urged the crowd to honor Floyd’s family by giving respect to the mayor as he and first lady Chirlane McCray approached the microphone, but many in the crowd booed furiously.
While de Blasio is white, his wife is black and a former speechwriter for New York City's only black mayor, David Dinkins. McCray opened with a call and response of “Power to the people,” which only minimally broke the tension of the crowd toward the mayor.
“We have so much we need to do going forward, but we have the power,” said McCray. “Look at all of you, look at all of us.
“We are making a statement today," she continued. "We are making a statement every day that we stand out and shout and protest and march. We have power we have — we didn’t even know we had. Black lives matter! Black lives matter! Black lives Matter!”
The crowd never really let down their torrent of jeers and chants as de Blasio took over, giving a speech that he rushed through in a couple minutes before quickly departing the demonstration.
“To everybody, here is what we must resolve: George Floyd cannot have been allowed to die in vain,” de Blasio urged.
“But let me tell something, for all of us who have not walked a mile in the shoes of the black community or communities of color, for all of us who know white privilege, we need to do more because we don’t even fully recognize the daily pain that the racism in this society causes. We need to do more,” he said.
“We will make peaceful change in this city once and for all,” the mayor said Thursday. “Keep fighting for that change. To the Floyd family, we stand with you. Black lives matter in New York City. Black lives need to matter in America,” he concluded.
New York Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James received a much warmer welcome from the crowd.
“You see, I pray that Gianna, George’s precious daughter, carries the loving memory of her father with her always and that she not be imbittered by the injustice has taken him away too soon, that she joins with all of the other daughters whose fathers were also killed by the hands and arms and knees and bullets of indifference,” James said.
“So to my young warriors and to the family, march until the stagnant intractable walls of racism come down,” she preached in her closing remarks.
“Walls that separate us must be crushed to ground by the forces of love and justice. So march family, march Terrence, march all of you, and march because when we march, we will see George on the other side of the mountain, amen,” she concluded, referring to George Floyd’s brother Terrence, who was in attendance.
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