Thousands protest in Orlando before weather prompts tornado warnings downtown, across region,

Thousands march downtown Saturday in support of justice for George Floyd

An estimated 3,000 protesters peacefully marched through downtown Orlando on Saturday night before tornadoes were spotted in the area and most people left to seek shelter.

Before the 8 p.m. curfew, police were telling protesters to leave the area because of the storms and many protesters had already left on their own.

Earlier in the day before the weather turned from a steady drizzle to a storm, demonstrators noted the magnitude of the movement that has grown from outrage over the death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who died after a police officer — now fired and charged with second-degree murder — kept him pinned to a street, face down with the officer knee compressing his neck.

“It doesn’t feel the same this time around,” said Patrick Harris, who is also known as a poet that goes by “One-Deep” of the protests that have persisted for eight straight days in Orlando. “When you can still feel this much energy, even when we’re all tired, that’s how you know.”

Harris performed one of his poems called “No More” on the steps of Orlando City Hall, where the large crowd had marched from Lake Eola as part of a demonstration dubbed #OrlandoBlackOutMarch2 with many protesters dressed in all black.

After the day of peaceful protests, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer on Saturday night tweeted that he was lifting the 8 p.m. curfew for the downtown area. The citywide curfew of 10 p.m. will still be in effect.

“Over the last week, our community has come together to speak out for change,” Dyer tweeted. “I want to thank our residents for showing this country what unity and strength looks like. We must seize this moment and work together to enact real change.”

Across the country, people simultaneously marched on Saturday in cities like Washington D.C and Philadelphia.

Jakorey Young, 17, organized an event outside the Orange County Courthouse earlier in the day after taking part in protests earlier this week.

“I’d rather be at home playing video games and not stand on the streets and scream at the top of my lungs that I want to be alive for the next 17 years,” said Young, a recent Jones High School graduate, as the Nas song “Cops Shot the Kid” played in the background. “I shouldn’t have to do this every day.

I shouldn’t for my life.”

Some demonstrators, like Young, were students or recent graduates of Jones High, which sits on the edge of Parramore, a historically black community in Orlando.

Tanika Cooper, whose 16-year-old daughter also helped organize the protest, said activism is a sign “the kids will be all right.”

“This isn’t the Civil Rights Movement, but we thought we would have progressed further than we are right now,” Cooper said. “It’s up to this generation to keep moving that pendulum further.”

Orange County Sheriff John Mina told demonstrators that his agency added a policy this week that requires deputies to intervene when they see misconduct by their colleagues. Many who heard the message said it’s a start but not enough.

Earlier this week, the sheriff ’s office announced it have to protest would review an incident involving a deputy who shattered a driver’s window when she refused to get out of her car after she stopped in the street to see friends at a protest. The woman was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Mina stopped to talk with a group of protesters outside the courthouse after he was briefly heckled during the event. He asked people to send videos of police misconduct.

Ashley Travieso rode her bike to Lake Eola for the march.

“I’m half Cuban,“she said. “My ancestry is West African, and a lot of people in my family are black. I feel I owe it to them to be here.”

The dreary weather earlier in the afternoon did not deter the 31-year-old.

“People are still racist when it rains,” she said.

Kasa Johnson set up a table near Lake Eola with free water, snacks, masks — and hugs. The 27-year-old mother had come with her kids and husband, a U.S. Marine. She said she brought her children so they could see what was happening, but spared their minds the details of the violence in Minneapolis that prompted the nationwide protests.

“I am the mother of a black son, and I don’t want him to grow up in a world where I always have to be afraid for him,” Johnson said.

Players from the Orlando Pride turned out for the demonstrations downtown including Sydney Leroux, Toni Pressley, Kristen Edmonds and Ali Krieger. Photos on social media showed the women, also dressed in black and wearing masks as a precaution against spreading the coronavirus, holding signs including one that said, “Our black children need a better future.”

Orlando Police issued a statement Saturday afternoon in response to rumors on social media that the agency is bringing a device to the daily protests that could damage hearing with intense acoustics if a crowd did not disperse or follow directions.

OPD said it uses a “LongRange Acoustic Device,” which it described as a high-end P.A. system to communicate clearly with large crowds. But the agency emphasized that the device is not used as a weapon against demonstrators.

“The equipment rumored on social media, including damage to hearing, involves a military-grade version of this equipment, which our agency is NOT using and does NOT own,” the statement said.

Most of the protests this week calling for an end to systemic racism and police brutality ended peacefully. Earlier in the week some protesters clashed with police after the protesters threw rocks and bottles. Officers responded by launching smoke, pepper spray and tear gas.

Police have made arrests during the demonstrations, including four people who were pepper sprayed on Thursday. No arrests were made on Friday. It’s unclear if any arrests were made Saturday.

The first Central Florida protest was on May 28, when dozens first gathered outside a Windermere-area townhouse owned by Derek Chauvin, the white officer recorded kneeling on the 46-year-old black man’s neck.

Chauvin faces seconddegree murder charges, upgraded this week from the initial third-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting. All four have been fired.

Elsewhere on Saturday, several hundred people showed up for a “Peace, Love and Unity” walk in Mount Dora on Saturday morning. Light rain fell as the marchers – who included Police Chief Robert Bell and Mayor Cathy Hoechst – stretched several blocks. Saturday’s peaceful demonstration was the fifth this week in Lake County, which remains under a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew until Monday morning.