Hundreds of protestors gathered in Peter’s Park in the South End of Boston to demand justice for George Floyd, a black man who died on Monday after a Minneapolis police officer used his knee to pin Floyd to the ground.
The Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder on Friday. Chauvin and the other three officers involved in the scene were fired by Minneapolis Police. Protestors in Boston held hand-made signs and chanted at the South End rally, demanding justice for Floyd and other black men who have died in police custody.
“The first police officer was arrested and charged,” Brock Satter, a speaker and organizer with Mass Action Against Police Brutality, said to applause. “But," he added, "that’s not enough for the family of George Floyd...it shouldn’t be enough for us.”
Satter spoke on the cases of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and other high-profile, police-related deaths of black men and women in the United States.
Satter also spoke of the death of Boston man Terrence Coleman, a 31-year-old black man with a mental health disability who died after being shot by a Boston Police officer in 2016. Coleman’s mother, Hope, disputes findings from an investigation by the office of then-Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley that said Coleman moved toward authorities with a knife before he was shot by police.
“I shed tears, but it’s time for my tears to stop and I’m going to keep fighting for justice,” Hope Coleman said at the rally Friday. “I pray every day for these cops to be [held] accountable. Every single cop."
Organizers emphasized peace and non-violence at the rally in Peter’s Park and march down Washington Street. Satter said that those interested in anything otherwise should “please do it elsewhere.”
Following the march down Washington Street, WBZ reported several people were pepper-sprayed while demonstrating outside of the District 4 Boston Police station on Harrison Avenue.
Footage showed that the demonstrations reached the steps of the District 4 police station off Harrison Avenue, where protesters clashed with some of the police officers.
Earlier in the day, Gov. Charlie Baker said he spoke with officials across the state about the possibility of demonstrations taking place in Massachusetts.
“If people choose to protest, we need to make sure they have the ability to do that,” Baker said. “We hope people protest peacefully but honestly, a moment like that, an event like that, I can’t imagine why people wouldn’t want to get out on the streets and make a point about it.”
