Charges upgraded in death of Floyd Mostly peaceful protests continue in Orlando area
George Floyd protests continued in Central Florida on Wednesday, with groups in Orlando, Clermont and DeLand remaining peaceful until an 8 p.m. curfew prompted police to clear the downtown Orlando area.
Protesters gathered at Orlando City Hall and Orlando Police Department headquarters for the fifth consecutive day despite the threat of the thunderstorms. They marched and chanted in support of Black Lives Matter and called for change after Floyd, an unarmed black man, was
killed last week in Minnesota while being detained by police. His death was captured by multiple cameras and sparked protests in more than 60 cities nationwide.
Crowds in front of OPD were a fraction of more than 2,000 that gathered the day before, and by 7 p.m. they began moving back downtown.
Despite the diminished numbers — about a few hundred — their resolve hasn’t appeared to fade.
“We continue to come out because there are people in the grave who can’t anymore,” said Daniel Demontangnac, a 17-year-old who helped lead the crowd away from the police station. “We have to show [the police] we are not going to sit, cover our mouths and die.”
In a speech to other protesters, he said that struggle needs to continue at the voting booth, particularly at the local level, where residents have more control. One of the goals, Demontagnac added, has to be “making sure we are influencing and spreading around the black dollar in the black community.”
“One thing we have is intellect,” he said. “We know what we have to do to change things, and that’s to vote for the right people to come to power.”
Mary Jones, 20, echoed that sentiment during a short speech at City Hall, where she denounced violence and called it “a problem” that many officers have not engaged protesters in dialogue.
“We gotta vote. We gotta know who we’re voting for. And if you know about it, speak about it,” Jones said.
Earlier Wednesday, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and police Chief Orlando Rolón announced that downtown Orlando would be under an earlier curfew than it has been for the past few days — 8 p.m. nightly. The rest of the city remains under a 10 p.m. nightly curfew.
The decision came after largely peaceful downtown protests ended in clashes with police at 10 p.m. when protesters didn’t comply with the curfew.
The pattern continued on Wednesday night, with police detaining protesters who did not comply with the earlier 8 p.m. curfew. Pepper spray was not used as widely, but it was deployed on a protester at least once Wednesday night.
Before the curfew hit, about half of the crowd took a knee for nine minutes in honor of Floyd in front of OPD headquarters and asked police to join them. Floyd complained he could not breathe while former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee pressed into his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Milagros Rodríguez, 21, held a sign aloft with a painting of Floyd and references to Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and Floyd.
She said she made the sign the night before using cardboard and acrylic paint, taking care to impart “positive energy” into Floyd’s portrait.
Earlier Wednesday, about 60 people attended a protest on the corner of Curry Ford Road and Chickasaw Trail in Orlando. Many of the protesters were in high school and showed signs supporting Black Lives Matter.
Jordan Ruiz, 16, helped organize the Curry Ford Road protest. She said she can’t vote in the November election, so she thought it was important to find another way to raise awareness about police brutality.
“This is the next generation of voters,” Ruiz said. “We’re out here to spread word about the cause, so that other people like us who hear about the cause could maybe join the movement.”
Ruiz carried a sign bearing the names of 24 victims of police violence, including Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who was killed in her Kentucky home during a noknock search by Louisville police.
“They need to be recognized because black lives matter,” Ruiz said.
Keishaune Thomas, a 17-year-old rising senior at East River High School, said he attended protests at City Hall twice this week in addition to Wednesday’s demonstration.
He said he came to support his friend, a protest organizer, and call for change.
“Every voice matters,” he said. “We have to show we’re not afraid to stand up for what we believe in. … Even though I can’t vote, it’s important for me to use my voice [to talk to those who can].”
At Earl Brown Park in DeLand, a small group gathered for another Black Lives Matter rally.
“We’re here to be heard,” said Rebecca Tainter, 26, of DeLand. “We’re here just to get out the message.”
The message: “That black lives do matter. That everybody is equal,” Tainter said.
She was holding a sign that read: “I CAN’T Breathe…#George Floyd.”
Tainter is expecting her first child and said she wants to help build a world where her son or daughter and her godchildren, who are black, can play alongside each other without feeling marginalized.
“I hope that we can be out in public and not get looked at weird just because of the color of our skin,” she said. “I don’t want my kid to be raised up in a situation like that.”
Wednesday’s gathering followed a larger rally Tuesday night in DeLand that started at the old county courthouse and made its way down Indiana Avenue.
Whitney Overley, who was at Wednesday’s rally, also attended Tuesday’s protest.
Overley, 26, of DeLand, said participants sang songs in a show of unity during Tuesday’s peaceful rally. She called it “beautiful” and said the impact of the event brought her to tears.
“No one was trying to be violent and that’s not what we’re trying to do. We just want the love,” she said.
Several hundred people also gathered along Waterfront Park in Clermont Wednesday afternoon for a separate Black Lives Matter protest.
The latest demonstrations come after the Minnesota state attorney general, Keith Ellison, announced he elevate the murder charge against Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer detained Floyd, from third-degree murder to second-degree.
The 42-year-old white officer is also charged with manslaughter in the death of the black 46-year-old, who was being arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit bill.
Ellison also charged three other since-fired officers — Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane — who were involved in Floyd’s arrest with aiding and abetting murder.
Protesters across the country have been demanding that Chauvin’s former colleagues face charges in Floyd’s death.