More than 100 people gathered in front of Greenwood City Hall Saturday afternoon to demonstrate against police brutality and racial injustice.
They were there to honor the memory of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed African American man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. The incident was caught on video and triggered protests in Minneapolis and other cities across the country.
“We’re just here to show our solidarity with national protests about police brutality,” Robert Wilson Jr., a local activist who organized Greenwood’s protest, said on the steps leading up to City Hall.
Listening were protesters who wore masks in light of the lingering coronavirus and who held signs with various sayings decrying racism. Several signs said “Black Lives Matter.” Other signs read “I can’t breathe” or listed the names of George Floyd and other African Americans who have been killed during police encounters.
“It’s a shame that we have to do protests like this in 2020,” Wilson said.
Standing next to him were Mayor Carolyn McAdams and Police Chief Jody Bradley, both of whom Wilson had invited.
“I think we will make something matter — in our hearts, if nothing else,” McAdams said, adding that acts of police brutality should not happen.
The mayor then went on to say that Greenwood’s Police Department has made changes to make the department more accountable.
Bradley, who’s headed the Police Department since December, said various aspects of society, such as the church, school and the individual, need to come together to better the community.
He said he plans to reach out to the residents of each of the city’s seven wards to ask what can be done to better the community.
“Why we’re here today is because someone didn’t do the right thing,” Bradley said. “As you see us get more involved in the communities, you’ll see us more out and about.”
Among the demonstrators was Shun Pearson, another local activist who works with youth. Pearson yelled out to the mayor that the people present at Saturday’s protest were there for various reasons, which paved the way for discussion among different matters.
One young woman asked the mayor why African Americans bear the brunt of COVID-19 infections and fatalities in Greenwood.
After her, a man asked if there’ll be free COVID-19 testing, which can be expensive for some, since many people throughout town cannot afford a paid test.
One woman said it’s a fact that systematic racism exists in Greenwood. She said if you look through the municipal court dockets that are published in the Commonwealth, about 90% of the people listed are black and come from the impoverished parts of town.
After other people aired their grievances about problems in the city, the protesters bowed their heads in a prayer led by the county’s chancery clerk, Johnny Gary Jr.
They then walked around the block twice, going north on Main Street, making a left on East Washington Street, and walking south on Howard Street to make a right to return to City Hall.
The protest concluded with eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence — the amount of time Floyd’s neck was pinned by Chauvin’s knee.
“That was a very long time,” several people said afterwards.
More coverage of this event will be in Tuesday's Commonwealth.
• Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
