George Floyd protesters peacefully march through uptown Friday, with onlooker support
Several hundred people were peacefully marching in uptown Charlotte Friday night, protests that were sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.
Along the way, they garnered support and encouragement from people drinking at brewery patios, walking out of office buildings or simply cheering from their cars or apartment windows and balconies.
Like much of the nation, Charlotte has seen a week’s worth of protests so far, marked by peaceful demonstrations, occasional violence, arrests and sharp criticism of police tactics. The protests began over the death of Floyd, a black man, who died after a Minnesota police officer knelt on his neck while restraining him.
At about 9:45 p.m., the crowd stopped on 4th Street near College Street, where police used chemical agents on protesters Tuesday night. Organizers explained the significance of this spot. CMPD’s use of chemical agents of protesters also touched off a big controversy about its tactics, which came under heavy criticism by protesters, politicians and others.
Some of the signs they carried Friday read, “Amplify Black voices,” “No lives matter until Black lives matter” and “Silence is violence.”
Police were closely following the marchers Friday night. Some of the cops were on motorcycles and bikes, and a line of police blocked off South Caldwell Street leading toward South End.
A police helicopter circled above the crowd for part of the evening.
Around 11 p.m., the demonstrators stops outside the county detention center, yelling, “We walk for you!”
The protest ended with the shooting off of fireworks about 12:40 a.m. Demonstrators had marched over 9.4 miles, CMPD Capt. Brad Koch said.
About 20 minutes before the protest ended, several people at West Trade Street and Poplar Street said they saw someone in a nearby building throw rocks at protesters.
Earlier in the evening, as he marched Friday night, 21-year-old Addison Conn of Rutherfordton said he “was uplifted” by how long the protests have continued in Charlotte. “It has the stamina to actually change things,” he said.
Several kids were marching with signs. Chloe Polk, 10, held one that read: “I deserve to be Black, beautiful and educated without fear” and “my life matters, my future matters”
At one point, marchers turned toward a small police bike barricade — turning on College Street off of 4th Street. Let’s go “slowly and gracefully,” a protest leader said over a megaphone.
Later, as marchers walked by a group of police officers, people in the crowd chanted, “No good cops in a racist system”
Cars on Tryon Street stopped and honked, before the marchers arrived at Romare Bearden Park and took a knee in honor of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old African American emergency medical technician who died after being shot eight times by Louisville Metro Police in March. The crowd held a balloon release and a moment of silence for Taylor, who would have turned 27 Friday.
About 15 police on bikes were in front of the crowd but the officers biked away as the crowd stopped in the middle of South Mint Street and West Morehead Street.
The marchers also took a knee at other stops, including near The Unknown Brewing Company, as patrons watched from the patio.
At North Italia on South Tryon Street, a few people at the restaurant took a knee with the protesters and raised a fist. Minutes later, at least 20 people in Charlotte Beer Garden also took a knee.
“We are not silenced,” a woman yelled after she left the beer garden deck, walked into the crowd and took a knee, fist raised.
Casi Di Russo watched the marchers before deciding to join them. She didn’t plan to protest Friday night. It was her first time joining a march, but said she’d participate again.
Four medical workers, meanwhile, said they came out to provide medical assistance to protesters if needed.
Police Captain Brad Koch said officers were there to help facilitate the march, and help limit traffic near them, especially as it got darker. He called the peaceful crowd “absolutely fantastic.”
‘Protest is inconvenient’
The march began outside the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center early Friday evening, despite the city canceling a community meeting due to storms moving through Charlotte.
“Protest is inconvenient,” City Council member Braxton Winston told the Observer, saying it doesn’t stop for bad weather.
“We came here today to talk to the mayor, and she ain’t even here!” one man told Winston.
Winston answered their questions instead.
“Every time I step out the door, I have a mark on my back,” one man told Winston.
“If anyone understands, I understand,” he responded. Winston had been arrested at a protest this week.
Some protests and city events were canceled Friday as weather forecasts predicted a stormy night.
Mayor Vi Lyles and the Charlotte City Council had planned a second community meeting Friday at 5:30 p.m. following a controversial video that appeared to show Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers using chemical weapons on a peaceful crowd of protesters.
Concern over CMPD tactics
Lyles had sharply criticized the police department on Wednesday after seeing the video from Tuesday’s protest, where police deployed chemical agents on uptown protesters, saying: “Last night was one of those times that none of us can be proud of — that none of us would want to see happen in our city. But it did.”
CMPD has told The Observer it will not release information on exactly what chemical agents were used on protesters, but multiple protesters told the Observer there appeared to be both pepper balls and tear gas.
“The specific agents we use are apart of our strategic plan,” CMPD spokesman Thomas Hildebrand said by email Friday. “Releasing these means and methods would put the community and officers at risk.”
Since Tuesday’s incident, protests have continued in Charlotte each night with largely peaceful crowds.
The city and police department have asked the State Bureau of Investigation to review the department’s use of chemical agents. CMPD Chief Kerr Putney has described the video as disturbing, but says there are more perspectives that have not been seen.
On Wednesday, protesters asked Putney to answer why officers choose to use tear gas against demonstraters.
“You never heard me say we’re all perfect,” Putney said. He said tear gas would “absolutely not” be used “if there is no violence.”
More protests planned
UNC Charlotte students have scheduled a March to End Injustice 1-3 p.m. Saturday, beginning at 8944 J.M. Keynes Dr. and ending at the Popp Martin Student Union, 9201 University City Blvd.
In Davidson, a “Community Solidarity March” is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at the corner of Main Street and Concord Road.
And on Sunday, several churches in Matthews, along withe the mayor and town commissioners, are holding a “Peaceful Rally in Solidarity for the Death of George Floyd” at 3 p.m. at the steps of Town Hall, 232 Matthews Station St.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 6:53 PM.