A Black Lives Matter silent vigil/protest for justice for George Floyd and to end police violence will be held at 4pm in Wellesley on Sunday, May 31 at Reidy Field on Washington Street. Signs are welcome.
George Floyd, 46, died on May 25 after being arrested by police outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In video footage of the arrest, a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, 44, has Floyd pinned to the ground and is kneeling on his neck. Chauvin kept his knee of Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes, even as concerned bystanders tried to verbally intervene.
Floyd was taken by ambulance from the scene of the assault to a medical center, where he died about one hour later.
Chauvin, 44, has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He has been fired, along with three other officers who were at the scene.
Since Floyd’s death, there have been widespread protests, some violent, across the country.
Wake up, Wellesley
Last year, a group of about 300 Wellesley High School (WHS) students, led by the student organization Young Ethnic Scholars (YES), walked out of class and onto the athletic field to “take action against the racial injustice rampant in YOUR community.”
The group, made up of students of color and their allies, was protesting racist incidents that occurred in the Wellesley public schools.
Hundreds gather in Natick
Separately, hundreds of community members gathered on Natick Common on Saturday, May 30 in support of justice for people of color who have been killed, threatened or otherwise unjustly treated in the wake of George Floyd’s death while in police custody.
Those are questions for the State Attorney General, the Mayor and the Governor.
Fair enough. Those are questions for the federal government too. Here are some instances where the Trump administration has enabled bad police behavior – and even encouraged it:
1) Pulling back Justice department investigations of police misconduct: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/16/13640540/trump-obama-police-brutality
2) Encouraging police officers to “not be nice” when arresting people: “Speaking to law enforcement officials in New York in 2017, Trump said, “please, don’t be too nice,” when arresting people”.
3) Giving military weapons to police. In other words, unleashing a literal occupation force in America’s towns and cities. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/28/16214600/trump-police-military-sessions
4) Pardoning Arpaio. It was a message to police everywhere that Trump would pardon any and all bad behavior by police officers.
Police should be given a lot of authority to do their jobs and keep us safe. But that should also come with a lot of civilian oversight to ensure that the authority is not abused. We have done a great job of the first part. On the second part, what little progress had been made in the Obama years (which was not much to begin with) has been undone by Trump.
And here we are. A black man is killed by an ex-cop and his son in Georgia and the killers are protected for 2 months by their friends in the police department and the DA’s office. A black man is asphyxiated to death slowly over 8 minutes by a police officer’s knee in Minnesota. A black woman is killed by police in her own home in Kentucky because the cops got the address wrong by eight miles. Is it Massachusetts’s turn soon?
Okay, I get that you hate Trump but blaming the failure of the justice system in Minnesota on Trump is preposterous. Keith Ellison, Attorney General, is a black Democrat known for far left political views. The Minneapolis police chief was a plaintiff in 2007 of a group of police officers who filed a lawsuit about racial discrimination in the police department. The Mayor and the Governor are both Democrats. None of those people have any love for Trump nor are they his puppets. Maybe this is time for the Democrats to look inward about how they have failed for decades to deliver on their promises for people of color.
You are right on all points! It’s great that we both agree that the politicians/ruling class have failed people of color in this country. I hope you will join and support the next protest in Wellesley/Natick/metrowest, demanding meaningful police reform and oversight in this country that empowers the police to do their jobs but also prevents police brutality against black people.
It was heartwarming to be part of the huge, (400-500) turnout at the Natick vigil yesterday. People of all backgrounds and ages stood silently with signs, at 6 feet distances and wearing masks, on all four sides of the Natick Center crossroads, and waved as cars going by honked in support. No justice, no peace.
Let’s hope this is peaceful but unfortunately BLM has a sordid history of violence.
The US has a sordid history of violence and abuse of people if color.
Peaceful? Have you seen what’s happening around the country? Also, it’s a federal offense to cross state lines to protest and incite violence.
Will the police protect our rights to use our streets, or let it get out of control?
I attended the Natick demonstration today. People are angry, but they were also civil at this event.
Have you seen how that police officer killed George Floyd? He would’ve gotten away with it if it were not for the video evidence. And even with this video, they only charged him with 3rd degree murder. The murderer had his knee on the black man’s neck for many minutes; his life slowly left his body while people around them kept telling the murderer that the man was dying. Why is that not 1st degree premeditated murder? And why haven’t that murderer’s accomplices been arrested yet? This is a repeated pattern of police getting away with treating black people brutally.
You are worried about your right to use the street.
“In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”