Following deadly Beatties Ford shooting, marchers in mourning walk in near silence

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden joined a small group of marchers who walked in near-silence down Beatties Ford Road in 90-degree heat Monday afternoon.

Beatties Ford was the site of the first protests that rocked Charlotte after George Floyd’s May 25 death by police in Minneapolis. The marchers on Monday passed the Burger King where a police officer fatally shot Danquirs Franklin last year.

Early Monday, the historic artery of Charlotte’s Black community again became the scene of tragedy: Three people were killed and at least 11 wounded when a multi-day street party erupted with at least 100 gunshots.

The Rev. Clifford Jones Sr., pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, where the march began, said those gathered came in mourning.

Mario Black, founder of Million Youth March of Charlotte and Salisbury, which organized the event, told the group that the march would be a “moment of silence,” with none of the chanting that has marked other protests for more than three weeks.

About 25 people walked down Beatties Ford Road with patrol cars in front of and behind the group. McFadden, who handed out masks to the marchers, joined the walk. Their numbers later grew to about 50.

As the marchers approached the corner of Beatties Ford and Catherine Simmons Avenue, near the scene of the Monday morning shootings, a woman confronted McFadden. Why was he there? she demanded.

“I’m from here,” McFadden, a former longtime Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police homicide detective, responded.

Some marchers shouted to “keep things positive” and encouraged the woman to leave the sheriff alone. Despite their pleas, some people jeered police officers and decried police violence against African Americans.

People in cars yelled “Black lives matter!” as the group passed. One woman stuck her arm out a car window and raised her fist in support as she rolled by.

The group placed flowers at two corners of the Beatties Ford-Catherine Simmons intersection. Some marchers wrote chalk messages on the sidewalks: “Black lives matter. Put the guns down!” “You are loved.”

Gemini Boyd, a community activist with Project BOLT, told the crowd he had seen people die on the street during Monday’s shootings.

“This has got to stop,” he said. “We can’t be a city that’s always reactive. We have got to take action.”

This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 4:25 PM.