OMAHA, Neb. (CN) — A loud but peaceful crowd of over 1000 people Sunday marched from Crossroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, where the city’s most intense protests originated a week ago, to a nearby park to protest police violence and mourn the death of James Scurlock, a 22-year-old black man who was shot and killed by a white business owner during unrest last weekend.
“There are times when it seems there’s nothing we can do,” said Jilaya Dailey, an Omaha native who participated in the march to show solidarity. “Today we will show the city, state and nation that it’s time for a change to come as far as injustices done to black men and women. I have a black husband, son, grandson. I don’t want them to be the next hashtag.”
As the march was led up the city’s busiest street by Leo Louis, board president of the Malcolm X Foundation, the group chanted “the people united will never be defeated” and “justice for James.”
Louis stopped every couple blocks to address the crowd over a bullhorn. “We are tired,” Louis said. “Physically, spiritually, literally. We are tired of having these over and over again. We are tired of having this conversation over and over again. Who’s ready for change?”
Despite a heat index that approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit and continuing threats from the spread of Covid-19, a group of more than 1000 people made the 1.5-mile march uphill and rallied in Memorial Park. Almost every marcher wore a mask, as free masks were available for those who lacked their own. Bottles of water were also made available along the route.
“We want to show unity in the community and show we can unite, no matter who we are,” organizer Precious McKesson said. She added that safety and maintaining the peace were a big part of the organizers’ goals.
The demonstration was coordinated with local police and the city parks department to ensure the route was blocked to traffic and the gathering was legal at a time when no park rentals are being granted due to concerns with the pandemic.
Organizers, the Scurlock family, police and city officials saw this particular gathering as necessary.
“This event closes out another weekend of protests to show that we are all ready to move in the right direction to create systemic and systematic change in the greater Omaha area,” Jasmine Harris, a community advocate and one of the organizers said.
At the rally, the speakers included James Scurlock II, the father of the slain young man; Justin Wayne, an attorney representing the Scurlock family; and Lt. Sherie Thomas of the Omaha Police Department.
Thomas, a black woman, choked up when she told the crowd that her heart grieves because of everything that has happened. “We see you. We hear you. We know that people are hurting,” she said.
When Scurlock took the mic, everyone in the crowd took a knee to honor his son.
“I want you to continue this, continue it like we started it,” he said. “You all got us the grand jury. The wheels of justice just started.”
Wayne mentioned in his remarks that a petition to compel the creation of a grand jury to investigate the killing of James Scurlock gathered 50,000 signatures in two days. Donald Kleine, the county attorney who initially declined to press charges against Scurlock’s killer, ceded to public outrage later in the week and said he would request a special prosecutor be appointed to present the case to a grand jury.
“True justice for James means we don’t have to have the same conversation 30 years from now,” Wayne said. “Omaha and the rest of the world is coming together with one simple message: ‘No more.’ We can talk about Eric Garner, but we don’t have to look any farther than Omaha to say, ‘no more.’”
