York demonstrators join in calls for justice

YORK, Maine — More than 150 people lined York Street in front of Town Hall Saturday morning to stand in solidarity with nationwide protests against racism and police violence.

Demonstrators chanted and held handmade signs as drivers honked and held signs of their own, calling attention to the recent deaths of black people at the hands of police, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Floyd died late last month in the custody of Minneapolis police after officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Chauvin has been fired and charged with second-degree murder. Three officers who observed the incident have been charged with aiding and abetting.

Taylor was fatally shot in March in her Louisville apartment as officers executed a “no-knock” search warrant after midnight. Taylor would have celebrated her 27th birthday Friday.

There were other names on signs at York’s demonstration, representing a long history of black lives ended by violence at the hands of police and private individuals. One sign described the history as “America’s Black Genocide,” beginning in 1619 — the year African slaves were first brought to the British colonies that would later become the United States — and continuing to present.

Bryce Waldrop of York stood in front of First Parish Church, holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign he made out of plywood. “I wanted something durable that would hold up and maybe use it again or reflect on it later,” he said.

Waldrop said it’s time for white people to listen to people of color and then mobilize against injustice.

“This is a moment in time that I think we need to stop and listen and then say that we’re listening and we hear them and this is going to change,” he said.

Saturday’s event was organized by the York Diversity Forum, which in recent months canceled several of its other events about the history of the suffragist movement, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Janet Drew, a Diversity Forum member involved in planning the suffragist events, said she felt comfortable enough to attend Saturday’s demonstration because participants were outside. They also wore masks and spread out somewhat along York Street.

"This brings people together and it’s really heartening to see,“ she said.

Drew held a sign that said, “Systemic racism is immoral,” a slogan she picked up from the Poor People’s Campaign. Drew said too many people believe the nation has achieved racial equality, when injustice continues to run rampant.

“The country is in disarray and it’s got to get fixed,” she said, “and it’s going to take all of us standing up and keeping the pressure on — no matter what happens after the election. It doesn’t end with an election. It has to keep going.”

Some town officials attended portions of Saturday’s demonstration, which began at 10:30 a.m. and ended around noon. York police kept watch over the scene, pausing traffic as needed to escort demonstrators safely back and forth across York Street.

Police Chief Charles Szeniawski, who stood in front of Town Hall during the event, said the demonstrators have every right to express themselves in a public and peaceful manner, as they did. Szeniawski issued a statement last week denouncing Floyd’s killing as “absolutely an unconscionable act that no human being should be subjected to.”

“We must all genuinely work to repair the damage that has caused a divide between law enforcement and segments of our communities,” Szeniawski said.