The second night of protests in the aftermath of the George Floyd death while in police custody attracted about 200 protesters in a peaceful march that started downtown at Aztec Calendar Park outside the El Paso County Courthouse and continued to the steps of city hall.
El Paso police were out in full riot gear in massive numbers for crowd control in a night devoid of any violence and only one arrest for unspecified reasons. While the crowd did voice their displeasure in close proximity to police, there were no physical incidents outside of the one arrest where a protester was removed from the area.
Led by the Brown Berets del Chuco, the march was an act of solidarity calling for justice for “innocent people who have been killed or been victims of brutality from any form of law enforcement,” according to the group‘s Facebook page.
“We stand in solidarity with our black brothers and sisters. We have a mad history with the Black Panther part,“ a spokesman for the Berets said during the protest.
The protests are in response to the recent tragic deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Protesters expressed that they want better police accountability for the actions of their personnel towards citizens in these matters especially towards people of color.
Continually calling on the police to take a knee, the crowd was vocal with chants of “I can’t breathe” “black lives matter “and “hands up, don’t shoot.”
Various protesters addressed the crowd with stories of interactions and experiences with police, including stories of protestors being tear gassed at Memorial Park May 31.
Outrage was expressed by some protesters that even though they said they were compliant with police orders during the May 31 march, they were still tear gassed by police after following instructions.
At around 10:30 p.m. the Brown Berets thanked the crowd for attending and left the march. The majority of protesters left with a small number of about 35 people remaining.
Michael Cuviello may be reached at [email protected]
