Rallygoers gather for march, vigil in downtown Orlando
Rallygoers gathered in downtown Orlando to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, but many of speeches and chants centered around the death of a 22-year-old man in Orange County from three weeks ago.
Salaythis Melvin was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Florida Mall on Aug. 7 by an Orange County sheriff ’s deputy. Melvin, who was grasping a gun, was shot in the back by a deputy as he ran.
“On Aug. 7, an Orange County sheriff shot and killed an innocent black man at the Florida Mall, and that’s a —damn shame!” marchers chanted.
While the protest was in broad response to police brutality and racial violence, Melvin’s name was the most common refrain as protesters marched across the bridge on Anderson Street and walked their way to the Orange Avenue strip back to the starting point.
Elanna Wright, who carried a sign with the words “Black is King” throughout, said it was her first time marching in support of Melvin.
”It makes me angry,” said Wright, one of about 60 people to attend the rally. “That’s why I really don’t understand when people say, ’Oh, he shouldn’t have ran away.’ … He was just hanging out with his friends.”
While speakers said the names of Black people killed by police over the past decade, attendees laid yellow roses below a sign for the event featuring a portrait of George Floyd.
Protester Aston Mack said Melvin’s name in conclusion and spoke about his killing, asking attendees to raise their fists in his honor.
”Last time I checked, the penalty for running or disobeying the police is not getting shot in the back. I’m tired, y’all,” he said.
Mack closed his speech by referencing
the opening of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, in which King said those marching on Washington were “cashing a check” of the nation’s debt to its “citizens of color.”
”We are here today to cash the check that Martin Luther King talked about … the check of freedom that we were promised in 1776 when they said there was life, liberty and happiness for everyone,” Mack said. “They didn’t include us, but they’re damn well going to include us now.”
The rally was organized by the Central Florida chapter of the National Action Network, an organization founded by civil rights icon the Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke before thousands at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
After Melvin was shot by Orange County Deputy James Montiel in a parking lot of the Florida Mall, protesters have held frequent demonstrations outside the mall, calling for the Sheriff’s Office to release information from the investigation and for Montiel to be fired and charged in Melvin’s killing.
Local activists attribute the agency’s release of body worn camera footage of the incident to pressure from demonstrators, but say the publicly available video thus far, including hours of redacted footage released Thursday evening, excludes key moments of the encounter.
The only released body camera footage that captured the shooting showed Melvin running and falling to the ground from about 50 yards away, recorded through the windshield of an approaching deputy’s moving car.
During a briefing before Wednesday’s protest for Melvin, activist Miles Mulrain Jr. stood alongside members of Melvin’s family as he said he wants to see video proving OCSO’s claims that Melvin had a gun in his waistband and was moving to grab it as he was shot.
“Even when the bodycam was released, after weeks of protest and public pressure and interest, you don’t see a gun on Salaythis and you don’t see the officers remove a gun from Salaythis at the time,” Mulrain said.
Mulrain said Melvin’s family deserves a formal, public apology from the agency if OCSO misrepresented Melvin’s actions leading up to his death, in addition to more transparency during the investigation.
“We don’t see … the sheriff reaching out to make sure that the family and friends are fully up-todate on what’s taking place with the case,” Mulrain said.
In a “love letter” to those gathered, attorney Natalie Jackson at the rally Friday thanked the “rainbow tribe of bold activists” embodying Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of racial harmony and working to carry out his dream.
”I’d lost hope in the prospect of America … you’ve reignited my faith with your righteous indignation,” she said.
She noted many protesters are young people shouldering the burdens of dismantling decades of racism.