Civilian Bike Squad pedals for peace at Charlotte’s George Floyd protests

A crowd of protesters marches down North Davidson Street, chanting. Ahead of them, people on bicycles and skateboards dart down side streets and emerge from others.

As the march continues, a cry goes up: “I need coverage right there!”

“Hold the line!” a woman yells.

These are the voices of Bike Squad, a group of cyclists, skateboarders and even people on roller skates who carry supplies and keep order at the ongoing marches in Charlotte after the death of George Floyd. Their roles include everything from picking up trash to creating a barrier between protesters and police.

“We’re at the front lines, you know, standing toe to toe with bike cops or motorbike cops,” said Greg Martinez, who works to direct the riders at night. “So what it does is it gives the people in the crowd a sense of comfort as they march.”

Martinez said the initiative started in 2016, during the protests after the death of Keith Lamont Scott. Scott was shot and killed by a police officer in Charlotte. Martinez was working as a delivery person, and he said he didn’t like watching the city “falling apart” at night. He volunteered to carry water and first aid supplies, and put out a call for others to help.

This time, Bike Squad started back up in the early days of the Floyd protests.

They still carry supplies, but they’ve expanded the operation to help keep order. They block side streets to keep the protesters safe and headed in the right direction, and they create a buffer zone between protesters and nearby police.

“When you have a large group of people as they walk up onto a line of police officers, it’s very intimidating. People get squirrelly, people get anxious. A lot of bad things can happen,” Martinez said. “If we can push them forward a block or two at a time, then the march gets to continue peacefully.”

Keeping it peaceful

On June 4, Charlotte resident Tyshawn Brothers was at the front of the march, making sure the crowd stayed in line and directing a group of skateboarders and cyclists to keep things organized.

“That’s the whole point of us being here, is to start peace,” Brothers told the Observer. Throughout the night, he yelled at the marchers to “hold my line,” urging participants at the front of the march to keep their arms linked and walk in unison. At one point Brothers shouted down someone who had climbed atop a pedestrian crossing signal.

Andrew Liberacki, who was out riding a skateboard that night, said police pepper-sprayed him at an earlier protest. He “wanted to fight,” he said, until the squad calmed him down.

“There’s a reason that people get that angry, and it takes people like them keeping this in order,” he said.

Now Liberacki skates with Bike Squad, standing shoulder to shoulder with his fellow riders as they block streets.

The squad isn’t directly affiliated with the groups organizing protests, and their leadership is loose. The riders coordinate over social media where to meet each day, but people come and go throughout the protests.

On Monday night, when a group of protesters walked from uptown to NoDa, Martinez said he lost track after counting 45 people helping out.

Mario Black, the founder of Million Youth March of Charlotte and Salisbury, which led Monday’s march, has loved seeing middle and high schoolers join the cyclists.

“They’re helping and they’re following the lead,” Black said. “The sole purpose of it is to show a younger generation how to handle situations like this in a more peaceful manner.”

‘A little family’

At Monday night’s march, Johnny Witherspoon flitted through the crowd on roller skates, collecting water bottles, chip bags and other trash.

“Everybody has their part in this,” Witherspoon said.

Martinez said leaving litter would be a “bad sign” for a peaceful protest. Picking it up, he said, “says a lot” about what the protesters are trying to do.

Throughout Monday’s walk, Witherspoon urged the riders to download the Telegram messaging app to keep in touch. He told the Observer he thought the group would stay friends and ride together even after the protests end.

“We create a bond out here, to be honest,” he said. “I feel like we’re all kind of a little family out here.”

Later that night, the protesters stopped to rest in NoDa. They ate pizza, drank water and talked. The members of Bike Squad milled about among them. Skateboarders propped their boards against a railing as they sat and ate.

Soon it was time to keep going. Martinez took command.

“Bike Squad, mount up!” he shouted. The cyclists, skateboarders and roller skaters began to move toward the front. The crowd lined up.

The protesters began to walk, and Bike Squad rode into the night ahead.

This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 12:27 PM.