Activists hold candlelight vigil in downtown Orlando to honor George Floyd’s life.
Activists gather in downtown Orlando to celebrate conviction in George Floyd case, continue quest for racial equality
Within hours of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty verdict in last May’s death of George Floyd, local activists held a candlelight vigil in downtown Orlando to honor Floyd’s life to say the fight for racial justice and police accountability is far from over.
Maxwell Frost, an organizer with March For Our Lives and a consistent presence in police reform protests over the past year, said Tuesday night’s event was planned within a few hours, with organizers announcing it just before news broke of Chauvin’s conviction.
“We just thought this would be a good opportunity for us to come together as a community to talk, to vent, to mourn, to think about all the other lives that didn’t get accountability today or haven’t gotten accountability yet,” he said.
During the vigil attended by about 30 people, organizers spread photos of people who had been killed by police next to tea lights on the ground in front of City Hall’s steps. Two bouquets of flowers accompanied George Floyd’s photo, which was centered in the display.
As organizers finished reading the names displayed, Frost mentioned two others who were shot and killed by officers in recent months — Salaythis Melvin, who was fatally shot by an Orange County deputy outside the Florida Mall last summer, and Adam Toledo, a Chicago teen shot in the chest at close range in late March.
Kasa Johnson, a local organizer who said she is known as “Mom” to many of the protesters, praised the continued unity of demonstrators after a year of protests.
“This was a movement that we all came together collectively for. This right here is what we need more of: we need more unity, we need more fight,” she said.
Johnson also brought her two young children to Tuesday’s vigil and asked those assembled to raise their own children in an accepting manner and continue the fight for a just world for future generations.
“I ask that you remain consistent,” she said. “It’s not just about walking in the streets yelling, ‘Black Lives Matter.’ It’s about policy. It’s about demands . ... it’s about going to board meetings. It’s about voting.”
Organizers said the vigil would have been held to remember Floyd regardless of Tuesday’s verdict, centering local discussion on the loss of life that spurred the trial and reinvigorated a worldwide movement.
Protesters marched across the Orlando area last summer, including across a downtown stretch of Interstate 4 and at Chauvin’s Windermere townhome, demanding justice for Floyd and using his case as a rallying call for police reform and racial equity.
Local changes to police reform have been modest, but some initiatives, like Orlando’s pilot program that sends mental health professionals to specific 911 calls instead of police, have been launched in direct response to community discussions of police reform over the past year.
As Tuesday’s vigil drew to a close, Frost asked attendees to take a knee in front of the photos and observe a moment of silence for the deceased.
“Today we got some accountability, and that’s good. But there are so many folks that don’t get accountability,” Frost said. “... I can’t wait until the day that we can go to sleep and not worry about another brother or sister or sibling’s life being taken away by the people who are meant to protect us.”