Hundreds protest in Burlington following death of George Floyd

Multiple protests in Burlington, Montpelier and Hanover, New Hampshire took place Saturday night in response to the killing of George Floyd while in police custody Monday in Minneapolis.

In Burlington, where there were no reports of any arrests, 1,200 people packed Battery Park to let their voices be heard, and not just for George Floyd. The group marched toward and surrounded the Burlington Police Department. Protesters confronted Interim Chief Jennifer Morrison and Deputy Chief Jon Murad about past incidents of police violence in the Queen City.

The group called for the firing of officers Joseph Corrow and Jason Bellavance, subjects of two excessive force lawsuits two years ago. The same for officer Cory Campbell, who faced no criminal charges after he got into a fight with a man who died three days later.

"I understand that [protesters] are upset. This is not news to me that they are aggrieved by incidents that happened prior to my tenure here as chief of police and I want to hear their voices. I want to hear their concerns. I’m not eager to rehash personnel issues that have already been resolved,” Morrison said.

Chief Morrison says she’s willing to sit down with protesters and hear their concerns, but protest leader, Harmony Edosomwan, says she’s not interested.

“Literally, all she has to do is fire them. We don’t need to talk about that,” Edosomwan said. “They did an injustice. The community has said multiple times that they don’t want them on the force. If that’s the case, then get them off the force. The community is speaking.”

Protesters accused Burlington Police of failing to protect the black community. Morrison says the protest indicates to her the department has work to do.

"I’m not in a position to say they don’t believe that. If they believe that, we need to know that and we need to continue to work collaboratively until we get to a point where everybody feels they are being afforded the same level of protection,” she said.

Protesters and police both recognized and appreciated that the event remained peaceful.

There was another organized protest in Vermont Sunday afternoon in Brattleboro.