Protest Remains Peaceful in Palestine
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
PALESTINE – Some were old. Some were young. Some were Black. Some were Hispanic. Some were White. On Monday, June 1, they came together as one to protest racial injustice in the wake of the George Floyd homicide.
Approximately 75 to 100 people gathered in Palestine’s Reagan Park on Monday evening for a candlelight vigil/protest.
“I’m so tired of this,” a woman who declined to give her name said. “They’re killing our babies in the streets. When will it end?”
Several of the protestors carried crosses of white with the names of African-Americans who had perished while in the custody of, or interacting with, law enforcement.
Others carried signs that said “Black Lives Matter,” “An Innocent Man Was Lynched,” and “Pray 4 Equality.”
A man who only identified himself as TJ said he didn’t want to give his name because he was afraid of retribution.
“I shouldn’t be afraid to leave the crib. Shouldn’t be afraid to drive, but c’mon man. You seen what they did,” he said.
There was a law enforcement presence at the demonstration, but the protestors remained calm. Talk of outside agitators had trickled across social media on Monday afternoon which indicated a desire to see the protest dissolve into mayhem.
Fortunately, any threats of violence never materialized.
At 8:46 pm, one-by-one, the protestors took a knee and remained that way for eight minutes and 46 seconds – the amount of time ex-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd, until he died.
Shortly before the protest began in Palestine, a different scene unfolded in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump ordered federal police, donned in riot gear, to use tear gas, flash grenades and rubber bullets to disperse peaceful protestors who had gathered in front of a church near the White House.
Following the dispersal, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Reverend Michael Curry, issued the following statement:
“This evening, the President of the United States stood in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, lifted up a bible, and had pictures of himself taken. In so doing, he used a church building and the Holy Bible for partisan political purposes. This was done in a time of deep hurt and pain in our country, and his action did nothing to help us or to heal us,” he stated.
“The bible the President held up,” the Bishop continued, “and the church that he stood in front of represent the values of love, of justice, of compassion, and of a way to heal our hurts. We need our President, and all who hold office, to be moral leaders who help us to be a people and nation living these values. For the sake of George Floyd, for all who have wrongly suffered, and for the sake of us all, we need leaders to help us to be ‘… one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.’”
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
