Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Protesters take peaceful path as curfews remain in effect
Protesters across South Florida peacefully marched and chanted on Tuesday over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
While images of police in riot gear, burned cars and looted buildings led the news across the country, unrest has calmed down from Miami to West Palm Beach in recent days as the police enforced nighttime curfews.
With more protests planned for the coming days, some curfews are set to expire while others seem to be extended indefinitely on the chance that flareups return. Gov. Ron DeSantis said as much after praising 24 hours of peace and thanking local officials, law enforcement and demonstrators. “We will remain vigilant and stand ready in the event something changes,” he said.
Anton Smith was a protester marching with 150 others in downtown West Palm Beach on Tuesday. He said a curfew is useful if it’s used as a way to protect people. “It’s bad if police officers get too anxious to disperse the crowd with the requisite force,”
Smith, 38, said.
The Miami-Dade police said they made no arrests on Monday after demonstrations, and Fort Lauderdale police only reported five curfew violations. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there have been no significant injuries to civilians or law enforcement.
On Tuesday, protesters showed up in far smaller numbers than over the weekend, battling intermittent rain. At least one died down by its planned time of 4 p.m.
The picture looked rosier than what South Florida witnessed over the weekend, when much larger, peaceful protests turned sour in the evening and led to confrontations between police and demonstrators, tear gas, and damaged property. Almost immediately, curfews were installed by county and city leaders.
In Broward County, a 9 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew installed on Sunday is being reexamined daily. But a county source said the curfew could be lifted as early as
Wednesday. A Miami-Dade County spokesman said no changes are “imminent” to the county’s 9 p.m. curfew and the Miami-Dade Police Director recommended to keep it through the weekend.
Palm Beach County never issued a countywide curfew, but Palm Beach Gardens, North Palm Beach and Riviera Beach have 10 p.m. curfews set to expire Wednesday. The town of Palm Beach and the city of West Palm Beach are under 9 p.m. curfews with no set expiration time.
Mel Long, a 23-year-old from Pompano Beach, was one of 700 protesters who gathered in Coral Springs. She said enforcing curfews
can sometimes emphasize the negative side of protests rather than the positive.
“It kind of sets people up to be in a very compromised position that no one wants to be in,” Long said. “I feel like, 1) It is targeting minorities who work late shifts, and 2) It’s taking away the voice of people who can successfully protest peacefully.”
The demonstrations included chants like “this is what democracy looks like” and “no justice no peace” to protest police brutality and recent spate of police killings of unarmed black men and women. Megaphones were passed for speakers to advocate for systemic changes and accountability. In Coral Springs, the Mayor Scott Brook and Commissioner Joshua Simmons and local religious
leaders spoke.
Signs held by the crowd read, “All we ever did was be black” and “Treat us like humans.” Throughout the afternoon and into the evening, the crowds participated in call-and-response chants with the drone of car horns steadily beeping in the background in support of the protest.
Easton Harrison, a 24-year-old from Lauderdale Lakes who has worked with the Broward Black Lives Matter chapter, stood in the parking lot where the Coral Springs protest took place as cars drove by honking their horns in support of the protest. “It makes me feel beautiful,” Harrison said. “We’re in a predominantly white city, and it’s a beautiful thing to see people drive by in their cars, white allies honking
their horns.”
Coral Springs residents Mahek Manjiani, 19, and Shayan Shivji, 17, organized the protest at the corner of Sample Road and University Drive with the expressed intent that it be a peaceful one. The two organizers made it clear through social media posts that no violence would be tolerated.
“Today is really about being peaceful and raising our voices for not just George Floyd but for everyone else who has been involved in
police brutality,” Manjiani said.
Manjiani said she coordinated with the police department about roping off the area before the event to ensure protesters would be safe. More than a dozen police officers stood in the lot during the protest. The protest remained peaceful and the crowd of hundreds largely dispersed by 4:30 p.m.
In downtown West Palm Beach, about demonstrators gathered at City Hall at 4 p.m. and marched past the
county courthouse and a police station, with plans to keep marching into the evening.
Rhonda Reyna, 33, of West Palm Beach, co-organized the event. “We came out to support the movement,” she said with a hoarse voice due to four straight days of protesting. “We are tired of police brutality.”
Reyna said a candlelight vigil for George Floyd has already been planned for Thursday, when his funeral will take place in Houston.
“It makes me feel beautiful. We’re in a predominantly white city, and it’s a beautiful thing to see people drive by in their cars, white allies honking their horns.”
Easton Harrison, a 24-year-old from Lauderdale Lakes who has worked with the Broward Black Lives Matter chapter