Candlelight vigil is sea of calm after stormy protests in Tallahassee

A vigil followed a day of raucous but peaceful protests Wednesday as the Tallahassee community continues to grapple with the fallout from three local police shootings and the national uproar from shootings elsewhere.

Organized as the Justice for Humanity Walk, the candlelight vigil at Cascades Park aimed to bring calm after the shooting deaths of Tony McDade, Mychael Johnson and Wilbon C. Woodard by Tallahassee police in just the past three months.

The event was attended by City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow and Leon County Commissioner Rick Minor.

Speakers pushed for communities to better understand each other once demonstrations ended: “This is wonderful and this is where it starts, and this is how we get our voices heard,” said Talethia Edwards, president of the Greater Bond Neighborhood Association.

"But when we are done walking and protesting and demanding that justice be served, we still have a responsibility to the place that we call home," she added. “We have a responsibility to call truth to power.

"We have a responsibility … to talk about injustices, to begin to dismantle systems that have been set up to disenfranchise our community over and over and over and over again. And that’s all of our responsibility.”

The night wound down with a group of pastors joining together on stage in prayer, then spreading their prayer to anyone in need. Below them were photos of black men and women killed by police.

Pastor Quincy Griffin said what was happening in Tallahassee wasn’t unique, but would serve as a starting point to make changes across the country.

“If Tallahassee can get it together, then the state can get it together,” Griffin said, “And eventually the whole nation can get it together.”

TPD has come under fire for the fatal shooting of McDade last week, following a fatal stabbing in which the transgender Tallahassee man was a suspect.

Police have said the officer fired after McDade threatened him with a gun, but many residents of Holton Street and Leon Arms apartments, where the shooting happened, are doubtful.

Johnson was shot and killed in March following a series of alleged carjackings when police say he became aggressive with officers. And Woodard was shot outside a North Monroe restaurant when police were called to a possible disturbance.

Police have released few details on each of the shootings, saying they don't want to undermine a grand jury review.

The incidents have caused local demonstrations for the past week as people push for more accountability from the police department and for the firing of TPD Chief Lawrence Revell. 

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.

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