Protesters marched in Syracuse for a fifth consecutive day to protest police brutality and the alleged murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The crowd repeated chants and carried signs denouncing police brutality while marching through the city. Protesters also prayed together, read poems and shared their experiences with racial discrimination, Syracuse.com reported.

Organizers later convened at a parking lot near the Syracuse Police Department headquarters, where they continued registering people to vote in New York state.

At one point, protesters chanted “Black Lives Matter” while kneeling in the parking lot. One protester, Kenzell Cooper, reaffirmed after the march that the group plans to protest in Syracuse for 40 days.

The decision to protest for 40 days has religious significance, Cooper said in an interview with The Daily Orange. In the Bible, Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. 

“We want change, so we’re going to give you this amount of time, like God,” Cooper said.

Wednesday’s protest was the fifth of several largely peaceful demonstrations that have taken place in Syracuse since Saturday in response to the deaths of Floyd and all other victims of police brutality. Floyd, a Black man, died after a white Minneapolis police knelt on his neck for several minutes.

Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck, was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter Friday for the killing of Floyd. Authorities elevated Chauvin’s charges to second-degree murder and manslaughter on Wednesday and charged the three other officers present at the time of Floyd’s death with aiding and abetting murder. 

Most of the protesters dispersed around 6:58 p.m and said they would return tomorrow.

 

Published on June 4, 2020 at 12:13 am

Contact Maggie: mehicks@syr.edu | @maggie_hickss