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Protesters in Syracuse marched Thursday for the sixth consecutive day in response to the alleged murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Floyd, a Black man, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. The demonstrations have been largely peaceful with the exception of a clash between protesters and the police on Saturday night. 

7:15 p.m. Jeff Piedmonte, president of the Syracuse Police Benevolent Association, said he does not support the protesters’ calls to repeal civil law 50-a, WSYR reported. 50-a does not require police to release personnel records for performance evaluations. He attended the 50-a discussions with protesters in Forman Park, Syracuse.com reported.

The union president’s opposition to repealing 50-a prompted calls from protester Curtis Chaplin earlier in the day for non-peaceful but nonviolent demonstrations, such as sit-ins.

Clifford Ryan, founder of OG’s Against Gun Violence, said about two hours earlier that the movement has supporters that outrank Piedmonte, including Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens and New York State Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter (D-Syracuse).

“Only thing that (Piedmonte) can do, you understand, is say no. But they’re going to go over his head,” Ryan said. “So we don’t have to worry about him saying no. We can still be on our same agenda that we been on.”

Piedmonte said he’s open to meeting with protesters.

6:52 p.m. Protesters have now gathered in a parking lot near SPD headquarters. They’ll meet again tomorrow at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt.

6:28 p.m. Protesters are kneeling on Rosa Parks Way as organizers speak about the importance of Parks’ actions. 

6:16 p.m. Twiggy Billue, president of Syracuse’s chapter of the National Action Network, runs over to a house with a protester as the crowd approaches Hudson Street. A family with a young child is standing outside. Billue holds the child, kisses their cheek and smiles at the crowd.

Protesters later kneel in an intersection, chanting “Black power,” with fists raised. They’re now repeating the names of victims of police brutality in Syracuse.

6:03 p.m. Protesters are encouraging people standing on the sidewalk to join the march. A protester says police want the crowd to go to Onondaga Park.

5:44 p.m. Two SPD officers are taking a knee alongside the protesters after one protester asked if they would. A protester is about to read the names of Syracuse residents who have died by police brutality. The organizer later stated the names of community members who have survived police brutality, including Shaolin Moore, who an SPD officer pulled out of a car by his neck last summer. The protester also read their son’s name, which the crowd encouraged them to repeat. 

5:37 p.m. The crowd continues to march as one protester holds an American flag upside down. “Abuse your power, we’re going to take it away,” the organizers are chanting. They were previously chanting “keep them knees off our necks.”

5:32 p.m “A protest is a protest, there’s nothing peaceful about it, but the violence comes from the police,” Billue said.

5:29 p.m. There’s a way to protest in a way that’s not peaceful but also not violent — like sit ins, one organizer said. “I’m not looking for war, but I’m looking for understanding.” 

5:13 p.m. Protesters are continuing to march, chanting “we can’t breathe” and the names of both George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. As they march, many cars are honking in support.

Chanting “we can’t breathe,” and George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s name: pic.twitter.com/Qyx6bQufND

— Emma Folts (@emmafolts) June 4, 2020

5:08 p.m. Protesters are discussing meeting at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt tomorrow to stop traffic. Ryan is addressing the group. “I’m going to be out here with you 100%, but we have to stick together,” he said. The crowd is now raising one first, chanting “one fist, we stand together.”

4:56 p.m. Owens is addressing the group at the corner of Fayette and S. Salina streets. “I’ve been deputy mayor for three and a half years,” Owens said. “I’ve been Black my whole life.” Though she’s not from Syracuse, it’s her home, she said, choked up. “I don’t want to see my city torn to pieces. I love y’all, I love y’all.”

4:48 p.m. The crowd continues to march as one protester chants “show me what democracy looks like” and the rest respond “this is what democracy looks like.”

4:41 p.m. Protesters have left Forman Park and continue to march, chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “hands up, don’t shoot.”

4:35 p.m. Curtis Chaplin said he’s ready to begin demonstrations and sit-ins to ensure change. Chaplin’s remarks came after he said Piedmonte told Chaplin he would not support reforming 50-a, Syracuse.com reported.

“As long as I’m here, as long as this is my city,” Chaplin said. “I’m staying all night, I’m staying in front of City Hall.”

4:28 p.m. Rev. H. Bernard Alex sings as protesters begin to stand with their fists raised. “Hatred thought that it had me, hatred thought that we would not win. But we’re stronger than we’ve ever been,” Alex sings. “No justice, no peace,” the protesters chant. Alex encourages protesters to register to vote. 

An organizer sings as protesters begin to stand, fists raised: pic.twitter.com/JwyraDl6As

— Emma Folts (@emmafolts) June 4, 2020

4:16 p.m. An organizer is encouraging the crowd to hold a moment of silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck. Protesters are kneeling and some are lying down with their hands behind their back. Some protesters are raising fists in solidarity. 

4:07 p.m. Helen Hudson, president of the Common Council, is speaking to the group of protesters. She says she sees her son in Floyd. Police have knocked her son’s tooth out and have been physically aggressive with him, she said.

“When (Floyd) called his mama, I saw my son,” Hudson said. “We have to ensure that nobody else’s baby ever has anybody’s foot on their neck, crying for their mother.”

4:04 p.m. “This country was built on our blood, and we have a right, I said we have a right, that if we choose to be on this plantation called the United States of America, that we have a right to live,” an organizer said. “Let me breathe.”

3:56 p.m. Hasan Stephens, founder and CEO of the Good Life Foundation, said he witnessed Syracuse police in 2003 detaining Black people who were coming out of bar and not doing anything illegal. A police officer forcefully arrested a Black woman, kicking her in her breast after she had been detained, he said. Stephens said he was arrested, handcuffed and then maced after telling an officer their actions were unconstitutional.

“Apparently that statement was illegal,” Stephens said. “After not resisting arrest, that young Black man was maced after being handcuffed, was left unneutralized, brought down to a holding cell and almost died in his cell that night because he had a history of asthma. That young Black man was me.”

3:55 p.m. The protesters are discussing reforms and repeals to civil law 50-a.

3:27 p.m. The Citizen Review Board, which investigates complaints from residents concerning Syracuse Police Department officers, has received 791 complaints since 2012, Syracuse.com reported. The department has placed 166 officers on the repeat offenders list and 110 have had at least three complaints filed against them in the last nine years. 

3:13 p.m. Protesters are gathering in Forman Park for a “Let Us Breath” press conference that is being held on Zoom, according to CitrusTV. 

2:45 p.m. Walsh continues to march downtown with protesters while holding a “Justice for George Floyd” sign, according to CitrusTV. 

2:37 p.m. Walsh is speaking with protesters as they begin gathering in Billings Park. Walsh says that he will march with protesters to Forman Park, according to CitrusTV. 

Published on June 4, 2020 at 4:09 pm

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu