SPRINGFIELD — Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant — starting point of what ultimately became a large-scale brawl involving off-duty police officers five years ago — was the focal point of a march against racism and police brutality Saturday afternoon.
Several hundred people carrying signs and chanting gathered outside the East Forest Park restaurant and marched in the rain to a nearby park.
City police were out in force in case the peaceful march turned violent, as have some other rallies nationwide since George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died May 25 at the hands of white Minneapolis police officers.
A dozen officers were at the scene with many more seated inside a nearby PVTA bus.
Nathan Bill’s and a nearby auto part shop boarded up their windows and doors on Friday in anticipation of trouble. Thirteen current and former Springfield police officers were charged with participating in or helping to cover up the April 8, 2015 fight not far from the Island Pond Road establishment.
The mile-long march from the bar to Nathan Bill Park on Plumtree Road was organized by City Councilors Justin Hurst and Tracye Whitfield, the Springfield branch of the NAACP, and Pioneer Valley Project. U.S. Rep Joseph Kennedy III, D-Mass, was among those in attendance.
Speaking to the crowd before the rain began to fall, Hurst criticized Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno for various actions, and inactions, that he said have contributed to the tensions between the black community and police.
“We will continue to protest and march until our demands are met and we are rid of those who aid and abet those who refuse to take their knees of our necks,” Hurst said. “The commissioner who knows her officers did wrong, but refuses to swiftly take disciplinary actions. The district attorney who won’t even investigate police misconduct never mind press charges against officers. Politicians who remain silent when justice needs them now more than ever. The mayor of the city who has allowed injustice, police corruption and fear to fester under his watch.”
Whitfield said she once believed that the current mayoral oversight system worked, but has since changed her mind.
“I originally voted against (a citizen review board) because I didn’t know how civilians would know the laws and union bargaining to make good decisions for the police department,” she said. “But I have changed my position. One person should not be able to make decisions on behalf of the whole department especially when she and the administration are so tight.”
The president of the Springfield Chapter of the NAACP, Bishop Talbot Swan agreed with Whitfield, threatening rebellion against what he said was an unjust and tyrannical system for blacks.
“I hope to get rid of a system where one person can hire and fire and make policy, mete out discipline, but only with the approval of the mayor,” Swan said. “When we said we can’t breathe you were not hearing us. How long can you ignore the cries of your citizens and expect them not to rise up in rebellion against a system of tyranny? Trust me when I say when a person cannot breathe they will scratch, they will fight and do all that is within their power to get your knee off their necks so they can breathe free.”
Kennedy, now a candidate for the U.S. Senate against Edward Markey, pledged his support to the Black Lives Matter movement for however long it takes to change the system. Kennedy told protesters that the movement, rather than a threat to the country, is exactly what the founders envisioned.
“This nation was founded on dissent. What you are doing here today could not be more American. It is a fight — a quest — for justice. We know that our government for hundreds of years has fallen short. We know we have miles to go before we rest. I pledge to be here with you every step of the way; to be with you until that justice comes to pass.”
Earlier in the day, another demonstration saw more than 100 participants peacefully marching from Court Square to the Springfield Police Department headquarters. Prayers were said at Court Square and upon arrival at the Pearl Street police station for greater understanding and civility. In one prayer, police officers who have fought against injustice were thanked for their efforts.
Protests were held in other Western Massachusetts communities on Saturday, including Northampton, Greenfield and Chicopee. Additional rallies are slated for Sunday in Amherst, East Longmeadow and Monson.
On Wednesday, some 3,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Springfield and marched peacefully from Springfield Central High School to police headquarters.