Houston ramps up for large march
‘A SALUTE TO GEORGE’: Trae Tha Truth, Bun B, Floyd family hold rally
Two prominent Houston rappers and Mayor Sylvester Turner will join the family of George Floyd in a downtown march Tuesday afternoon that officials are expecting to be widely attended but peaceful.
Trae Tha Truth, a longtime friend of Floyd, and Bun B are coordinating with Floyd’s nephew Brandon Williams to organize the rally and subsequent march to City Hall, according to Bun B, whose real name is Bernard Freeman. Turner and Police Chief Art Acevedo are participating in the event, which is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at Discovery Green downtown.
“It’s important that we fight for justice,” said Trae Tha Truth, whose given name is Frazier Thompson III. “We can’t stand back and watch. We have to protect each other.”
Though Turner and Acevedo are participating in the rally, the mayor said Thompson and Freeman are the “principal organizers.” It is not an official city event, the mayor said, but city officials “certainly will support the efforts
to make sure that things are done in a peaceful and orderly fashion.”
Turner said city officials “are ramping up for a large crowd tomorrow” but did not anticipate violence or destructive behavior that was seen at times during protests here Friday evening.
“This is a salute to George and an acknowledgment that he should not have died the way he did,” Turner said. “If you are standing for George Floyd, why would you want to create problems for his family? And if you are true to the cause, why would you want to do anything to take away from this special, emotional moment for his family and for his friends?”
Houston police will continue to oversee the march and rally in coordination with the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety and “federal agents,” Turner said. The mayor also kept open the possibility of enacting a city curfew, a measure implemented in some other large cities but not in Houston so far.
“There was no need to do it on
Saturday, there was no need to do it last night, and I’m hoping there will not be a need to do it tonight or in the days to come,” Turner said.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man whose death in Minneapolis police custody last week was captured in a widely viewed video, grew up in the Third Ward and graduated from Yates High School in 1993. Floyd died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes as the handcuffed man pleaded for air. The incident has sparked outrage and protests across the country and world. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired and faces charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter.
In Houston, protests remained largely peaceful Saturday and Sunday after a chaotic Friday evening that saw eight police officers injured and at least a few damaged businesses. Gov. Greg Abbott activated National Guard troops Saturday
to manage protests throughout the state, and Acevedo assigned officers to alternate on 12-hour shifts, though no major violence appeared to unfold here during the weekend.
Turner said a large majority of the more than 400 people arrested by Houston police from Friday to Sunday were “locals,” with many charged with obstructing roadways. The mayor said he did not have any information to reveal about Acevedo’s warning that police were monitoring the threat of white supremacists coming to Houston to “create havoc.”
Meanwhile, the city recorded 337 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and Monday, for a total of 5,753 active cases and 7,743 since the pandemic began. There have been 131 deaths from the disease in Houston.
The mayor repeatedly has warned of the continuing threat of the coronavirus, imposing new requirements Monday that people wear masks and undergo temperature checks before entering city facilities. Officials were not planning to enforce any similar measures at the rally, though Turner urged people to wear face coverings and
“as best as possible engage in social distancing.”
Ashton Woods, the founder and lead organizer of Black Lives Matter Houston, said he was not troubled by the involvement of Acevedo and other city officials in the march, despite his movement’s overriding message against police violence toward black people.
“It’s all of us coming together. Everyone working on this is black,” Woods said. “Though we may not share some of the same sentiments and we may not always agree, every black voice matters. So, this is community, and Black Lives Matter Houston will support.”
Thompson, for his part, said he has invited the entire city to participate. Organizers said they are waiting to reveal the route of the march until protesters arrive Tuesday to protect those involved.
“My vision is that all of humanity, everyone in this city will come out and march,” Thompson said. “Let’s show the world what we are capable of doing.”