Tens of thousands of protesters streamed out of New York City's Washington Square Park on Saturday to protest
the killings of unarmed black people by police officers, as part of the "
Millions March NYC."
The
crowd began to wind its way through Manhattan. A large labor union
contingent was present, including members of the Communications Workers
of America wearing red shirts and AFL-CIO supporters waving blue signs.
In contrast to
other marches
over the past weeks, this large, orderly demonstration took place
during the day. A number of families with children took part, and
demonstrators followed a pre-planned route. The march made its way
uptown to Herald Square, then looped back downtown, with thunderous
chants of "Hands up! Don't shoot!" and "Justice! Now!" echoing down
Broadway. The demonstration culminated at One Police Plaza, the New York
City Police Department's Lower Manhattan headquarters.
Organizers
estimated that 30,000 demonstrators participated in the march. The NYPD
told The Huffington Post that, as of the official end of the march, no
arrests had been made.
Protesters held up 8 panels depicting Eric Garner's eyes, created by
an artist known as JR. "The eyes were chosen as the most important part of the face," said Tony Herbas of Bushwick, an assistant to the artist.
Ron Davis, whose
son Jordan was shot dead by a man in Florida after an argument over loud music, was at the head of the march.
"We
have to make everybody accountable," Davis told HuffPost. "You can’t
continue to see videos of chokeholds, videos of kids getting shot in the
back, and say it’s all right. We have to make sure we have an
independent investigator investigate these crimes that police carry
out."
Michael Dunn, the man who killed Jordan, was
convicted of first-degree murder
and sentenced to life without parole in October. Davis said Saturday
that Dunn's conviction proves it's possible that justice can be served
in racially charged cases.
"We ended up getting a historic
movement in Jacksonville," Davis said. "We had an almost all-white jury,
with seven white men, convict a white man for shooting down an unarmed
boy of color."
Also
at the front of the march were New York City Councilman Ydanis
Rodriguez and New York state Assemblyman-elect Charles Barron.
Matthew
Brown, a 19-year-old who is African-American and Hispanic, marched down
Broadway with his mother, aunt and other family members.
"I'm trying to support a movement that really needs young people like myself," said Brown. "I'm here to speak for Mike Brown."
The
teenager said part of his motivation for making the trek from West
Orange, New Jersey, with his family was his own personal experience.
He's encountered racist verbal abuse from police in Jersey City, he
said, who have called him "spic" and monkey."
Citing the cases of
Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, Brown said part of the reason
he wanted to speak out was because of the way police represent
encounters with African-Americans. "I just see so many lies after lies."
He
also attended the People's Climate March in September. But this march
felt more intense to him. "This is one that's really affecting people on
a deep, emotional level," Brown said.
Krystal Martinez, a
23-year-old schoolteacher, said she attended the march to send a simple
message: "I don't want my students' names chanted at any of these
events."
Because
she teaches at a charter school that serves students from
Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, Martinez said, she was painfully
aware of the challenges black youth face in interactions with police.
Martinez,
a Harlem resident, pointed to a sign held by a colleague with a quote
from a 13-year-old girl who had been stopped by police: "The first time I
was stopped and frisked I was so scared I didn't leave my house for a
week."
"Eighty-five percent of my students are black and this is
their lives," Martinez said, emphasizing that she spoke for herself and
not her school. "I'm out here because of my kids."
Some protesters
arrived with concrete policy proposals. Marcia Dupree, a homecare
supervisor, came bearing a sign that read, "We must change the law ...
no grand jury!!!"
"The root of the problem," Dupree said, was the
closeness between grand juries and police. In the wake of two grand
juries' decisions not to indict officers in the Michael Brown and Eric
Garner deaths, the idea of abolishing the institution has gotten a lot
of attention from both
the media and policymakers,
including the chairman of Missouri's Legislative Black Caucus.
Dupree
added that she'd never really considered herself much of an activist
before. Serving on the board of her local library in Mount Vernon, New
York, was "as political as I got." But she said she has been moved to
protest out of concern for her 13-year-old daughter -- who was marching
in crutches by her side -- and her 21-year-old son.
"I feel like I need to stand up," said Dupree. "It could be my son."
At
times, the march blurred surreally with Santacon -- the sloshy daytime
celebration of Christmas (and drinking) that New Yorkers hate on every
year.
A number of Santacon participants joined the march. Others
were less enthusiastic. "I love cops, seriously," one man in a Santa cap
told an impassive officer. "I hate these people." Then he walked off
with his fellow revelers.
Saturday's
day of action came in response to two separate grand jury decisions not
to indict police officers for killing unarmed black men. On Nov. 24, a
St. Louis County grand jury voted
not to indict Police Officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Less than two weeks later, a Staten Island grand jury
declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who killed Eric Garner by putting him in a chokehold.
Brown's death on Aug. 9 triggered
months of protests in Ferguson against police killings -- protests that have since spread nationwide.
One group of marchers turned into a street protest choir, singing, "We're not gonna stop, until people are free."
Beneva
Davies, a 23-year-old Harlem resident who lent her voice to the group,
said the most singing she usually does is in the shower.
"It's not really about your voice," Davies said. "It's about your
voice, right?"
Davies's
family hails from Sierra Leone and Ghana, and she grew up in
Massachusetts. Sometimes, she says, she sees a "disconnect" between
recent African immigrants and the African-American descendants of
slaves.
But she tries to push back against that disconnect, she said, because "at end of the day it's what you're seen as."
Davies
saw the march as her chance to answer the question of what she would
have done if she had been alive during the civil rights protests led by
Martin Luther King Jr.
After hundreds of years of slavery, Jim
Crow and more, Davies said, "People continue to get killed. ... It's
frustrating. We have to be here so people can see it."
Sebastian Murdock contributed reporting.
This story has been updated.
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John Minchillo/AP
Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday,
Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march. In the past
three weeks, grand juries have decided not to indict officers in the
chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the fatal shooting of
Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The decisions have unleashed
demonstrations and questions about police conduct and whether local
prosecutors are the best choice for investigating police. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)
-
Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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John Minchillo/AP
Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday,
Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march. In the past
three weeks, grand juries have decided not to indict officers in the
chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the fatal shooting of
Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The decisions have unleashed
demonstrations and questions about police conduct and whether local
prosecutors are the best choice for investigating police. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)
-
wilfish99/Instagram
Thousands march in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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John Minchillo/AP
Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday,
Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march. In the past
three weeks, grand juries have decided not to indict officers in the
chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the fatal shooting of
Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The decisions have unleashed
demonstrations and questions about police conduct and whether local
prosecutors are the best choice for investigating police. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)
-
Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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raphaelangenscheidt/Instagram
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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msjoannaj / Instagram
Thousands march along 5th Ave. in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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christesc/Instagram
Thousands march in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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John Minchillo/AP
Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday,
Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march. In the past
three weeks, grand juries have decided not to indict officers in the
chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the fatal shooting of
Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The decisions have unleashed
demonstrations and questions about police conduct and whether local
prosecutors are the best choice for investigating police. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)
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Carly Schwartz/Huffington Post
Thousands march on Broadway in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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brentaxthelm/Instagram
Protesters make their way up fifth avenue in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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andysimpzon/Instagram
Thousands march along 5th Ave. in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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jesslynyovita / Instagram
Thousands march along 5th Ave. in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Jnobianch / Twitter
Thousands march along 5th Ave. in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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TRMacM/Twitter
Thousands march on Broadway in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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mollyhein / instagram
A man dressed up as Santa for SantaCon walk by protesters on 5th Ave. on Dec. 13, 2014 in New York City.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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mothertuckermurray / Instagram
Thousands march along 5th Ave. in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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Emily Kassie/Huffington Post
Thousands gather in Washington Square park in New York City on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014.
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