Thousands of people gathered Saturday across South Florida to protest police brutality, on what may be the biggest national day of demonstrations since the Minneapolis killing that sparked more than a week of unrest.
Protesters sat down on East Broward Boulevard at U.S. 1 in downtown Fort Lauderdale, shutting down traffic late Saturday afternoon. But demonstrations so far remained peaceful, in a series of events that began early in the day.
More than 100 people gathered at 9 a.m. in Boca Raton, holding signs in Mizner Park and along Federal Highway. In Miramar, protesters gathered at the Ansin Sports Complex before embarking on a march through the city. In West Palm Beach, there were demonstrations along Southern Boulevard, the road leading to President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
As Siherrah Noble-Kahn, 18, walked with the group heading toward Mar-a-Lago, said she marched to call attention to the injustices perpetrated by the generation that elected a “bad” president.
“It’s on their conscience,” said Noble-Kahn, a recent graduate of William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens. “Their grandchildren will definitely see them in their history books and wonder, ‘What were they doing?'”
A block away, on the west side of the bridge to Palm Beach, Boynton Beach retiree Bob Thomas held an American flag and a Thin Blue Line flag, a banner that symbolizes support for police.
“I am here to give the police a voice,” he said. “They’ve been beaten down the past few weeks. I just want to be here in support them.”
A young, racially mixed crowd of more than 200 gathered outside the federal courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale, a traditional spot for demonstrations. Honks from passing drivers buoyed the crowd into louder chants and cheers.
“Honk for Justice/Peace,” urged one sign.
“White silence = violence,” another said.
The South Florida events took place on a national day of protests 12 days after George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Themes of the demonstrations have broadened from Floyd’s killing to institutional racism, the violent police response to several demonstrations and President Trump’s aggressive, militarized tactics against protesters in Washington.
“They’re not new problems,” said Louis Garcia, 31, of Plantation, as he marched with the group in Fort Lauderdale. “It’s not just a police issue. It’s a racial issue. It’s a nation issue.”
Thousands of protesters on Saturday poured into the area around the White House, where newly installed fences kept protesters away and the police presence had greatly diminished from the past few days, according to The Washington Post.
Under gray skies Saturday afternoon in downtown West Palm Beach, a peaceful procession of about 200 chanting marchers moved from Rosemary Square to the Palm Beach County Courthouse. A second group of several hundred marched from Dreher Park to Southern Boulevard, reaching a detour at the Southern Boulevard Bridge, where two dozen deputies from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office guided them north.
On the steps of the Palm Beach County Courthouse, speakers spent about 90 minutes calling for reform and unity, addressing a multiracial crowd that included many parents with young children.
At one point many members of the crowd lay face down on the pavement with their hands entwined behind their backs, staying there for 8:46 minutes, the time Floyd had a police officer’s knee on his neck. Speakers recited George Floyd’s final words: “Please, I can’t breathe.” “Everything hurts.” “They’re going to kill me.” “I can’t move … Mama … Mama … I can’t.”
Wenfred Dorsey, a Black Palm Beach County resident, brought his twin 9-year-old daughters.
“They need to witness this,” Dorsey said. “They need to know that this is part of history, unfortunately, and they need to know what’s going on in our community and be a part of positive change. They need to be close enough to it to where they can touch it, smell it, eat it and talk about it.”
In Fort Lauderdale, a few blocks from the courthouse protest, a separate group gathered at Huizenga Plaza and marched to East Broward Boulevard. Both groups — totaling at least 300 — took to the road chanting “no justice, no peace” and “black lives matter.”
Although there was a heavy presence of police, with officers on bicycles and in patrol cars, they stayed a block behind the marchers and did not engage with them. They closed roads to traffic while marchers passed through.
The protest moved along East Broward Boulevard, the spine of the downtown, with the parade of protesters stretching about a city block. Though the world has been gripped with fear of coronavirus, there was no effort at social distancing. The crowd was thick, with only a small percentage wearing masks.
One marcher, Natasha Harrison, a lawyer who has represented arrested activists pro bono, said she hopes the protests go on “indefinitely” because that’s what’s been needed in other countries that successfully fought oppression.
“We want to effect lasting change,” she said. “We have to be persistent and not let up.”
The Boca event was the first Black Lives Matter event that Boca resident Vaughn Crichlow had attended, and he credited his 15-year-old daughter Arielle for getting him involved.
“The social conscience she’s developed and the desire to do something and take a stand really inspired me,” he said.
A lone patrol car occasionally cruised past the crowd in Boca Raton without stopping.
“People aren’t doing enough and more voices need to be heard,” Arielle Crichlow said. “That’s why I’m so happy to see the amount of people that showed up here today from different backgrounds and different age groups, and they’re all supporting the cause.”
The multiracial crowd waved signs at honking motorists that read “Black Lives Matter” and listed the names of some of those who have died in police custody.
Saturday evening, with most of the protesters gone, an impromptu gathering at the corner of Clematis and Rosemary in West Palm Beach was brought to a halt when a black West Palm Beach police officer took a knee in front of the crowd.
The move produced audible elation. One of the more vocal protesters at the front yelled, “Thank you, sir!”
Officer Darien Thomas, a three-year veteran of the force, pointed to his heart when asked to explain his act.
“This uniform is not a representation of us not standing for Black Lives Matter,” he said. “We’re all human. We all are here. We all do this job because we want to help the community. Hopefully that shows us, especially the West Palm Beach Police Department, we stand with the community.”
In Miami protesters marched from Bayfront Park to the Miami-Dade Courthouse, in a peaceful event described as a prayer march, according to the Miami Herald. Another group protested outside the president’s Trump National Doral Miami golf resort.
A demonstration near Florida International University ended with arrests Saturday night, according to Herald.
At the end of a peaceful demonstration, with a few dozen protesters left on Southwest Eighth Street, Miami-Dade Police in riot gear lined up and marched down the street. An officer with a loudspeaker declared the event an “unlawful gathering” and gave them five minutes to leave, according to the Herald.
Officers moved forward, used their shields to slam a man against a wall and arrested two men and two women, the paper reported.
Police tweeted traffic alerts in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Miramar and elsewhere during demonstrations.
In Wellington, over 100 demonstrated at Forest Hill Boulevard and U.S. 441. They waved signs and wore T-shirts that read “I Can’t Breathe,” words uttered by Floyd before he died.
Two Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies walked up to the crowd and struck up a conversation with a few demonstrators before walking away minutes later.
Kyla Edme, of Wellington, didn’t need Floyd’s death to motivate her participation. She said she and her husband have been pulled over by police for “driving while black.”
“I’m fighting for my son, for my husband, for my father, for my daughter,” she said. “It’s been so heart-warming to see how much support there is here.”
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4535.