A pair of protests are planned Saturday in Seattle to mourn George Floyd — a Black man who died in a confrontation with Minneapolis police this week — and demand more police accountability.
One of the protests will be led by Not This Time!, a nonprofit committed to reducing fatal police shootings and creating safer communities.
“We can’t have officers killing people — unarmed people — and not being charged and convicted,” said the group’s leader, Andre Taylor. “We need to see officers being held accountable.”
The protest is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Saturday at Westlake Center, 400 Pine St., with speakers, including community and youth leaders, pastors and politicians. The group will then walk to the U.S. District Court building at 700 Stewart St., where there will be another round of speakers, music and poetry, Taylor said.
The event, which is expected to last at least two hours, will honor Ahmaud Arbery, who was chased and fatally shot by white men in Georgia in February; Breonna Taylor, who was killed by Kentucky police officers during a “no-knock” raid of her apartment in March; and Floyd, who died this week after a Minneapolis police officer pinned his knee against the man’s neck. Video footage of the incident showed Floyd struggling to breathe and pleading with police.
“This is something we haven’t seen before,” Andre Taylor said. “(The police officer) did it in front of a camera that he knew would be circulated around the world … Now that has triggered something different in Black people and communities of color. We’re going to see results.”
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Not This Time! is asking that participants exercise social distancing and wear gloves and masks on Saturday.
Another protest, organized by a group called Justice For George Floyd, will be held at noon Saturday at 610 Fifth Ave. S., in the Chinatown-International District, according to the group’s Facebook page.
Andre Taylor is the brother of Che Taylor, who was shot to death by Seattle police in 2016. Taylor was one of the activists who pushed Washington lawmakers in 2018 to pass a bill aimed at making it easier to prosecute police officers over misuse of deadly force. On Thursday evening, he said national and local leaders need to continue that work.
“We’re also asking white Americans to gather amongst themselves with the same passion for justice as we have done here,” Taylor said. “Unless they speak and show they’re just as outraged by these killings, then the probability of things changing any time soon is very low … rally, organize. Let’s stand together.”
Floyd’s death Monday in a confrontation with police was captured on widely seen citizen video. On the video, Floyd can be seen pleading as Officer Derek Chauvin presses his knee against him. As minutes pass, Floyd slowly stops talking and moving.
The incident has sparked protests and has drawn wide condemnation by many in law enforcement and led to the firings of the four officers involved in Floyd’s arrest.
Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best called Floyd’s death a “murder” in a statement posted on the department’s website. “The video is upsetting, disappointing, and infuriating,” Best wrote. “It does not show the policing we know.”
In addition to the two protests, an informal anti-racism car and bike parade is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday in the Lake City area of Seattle.
The event, organized by the Nathan Hale High School Racial Equity Team, is aimed at encouraging the community “to strive towards an antiracist mindset, to show our commitment to antiracist action and to demonstrate our solidarity with those who have been victims of racial injustice throughout our nation,” according to a news release.
The event will begin in the Nathan Hale staff parking lot at of Northeast 110th Street and 30th Avenue Northeast at 9:30 a.m. before setting off at 10 a.m. The route will head north on Lake City Way, then east on Northeast on 135th. The route will then head south of on 35th Avenue Northeast to Northeast 130th and then south on Lake City Way to return to school. Organizers say they will adhere to social distancing guidelines.
