Rally protests police actions
Demonstrators in Lauderdale decry spate of unarmed killings
FORT LAUDERDALE — It was the second time in a week that Ed Walker hit the streets of Fort Lauderdale to demand change.
“No justice, no peace!” he shouted into a megaphone. “No racist police!”
Walker was part of the more than 100 demonstrators that took the downtown on Saturday to protest the out-of-state killings of unarmed black men by police officers.
“Here we have an unjust system that needs to be replaced,” Walker said.
The protests were part of a national response after grand juries in New York and Ferguson, Mo., recently decided not to indict two white officers in the killings of the two black suspects.
The demonstrators also marched Saturday in opposition of Fort Lauderdale’s public food sharing regulations affecting the homeless. The event was put on by the groups Food Not Bombs, the Dream Defenders and the national group Anonymous.
“We’re here to be a voice for the voiceless,” said Didier Ortiz, one of the organizers of the event.
Ortiz said the demonstration was partially organized around Saturday’s Hard Rock Seminole Winterfest Boat Parade. Organizers said they wanted to make a statement about the poor and the disenfranchised at an event that they said praised luxury and wealth.
“We want to show them the reality is the power isn’t with the people over there [at the parade], or in city hall or [at a bank],” Ortiz said. “It’s streets.”
One man was arrested at the protest on the charge of disorderly conduct. Protesters said they believe another person had been arrested, but that was not confirmed by police.
Fort Lauderdale police Capt. John Lambandera said the arrested suspect was charged because he had hit a car with his fists.
“When people slam fists into civilian cars and elbow cars that have nothing to do with anything, that’s civil disobedience,” he said.
Protesters were twice asked to disperse.
The first time, an officer came over a megaphone telling protesters to move along at Broward Boulevard and Southeast Third Avenue.
The second time came at the end of the protest on Las Olas Boulevard just after 7:30 p.m.
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The protest briefly went down to the Winterfest Boat Parade, and drew away the attention of some parade spectators.
Danny Agnew, one of the protesters, said the intent of the demonstration was to force people to listen to the groups’ message.
“We need the masses to attention,” he said. kjacobson@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6547 or Twitter @katejacobson
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