Protests against police brutality continued in the Pittsburgh area on Sunday, as hundreds gathered for a demonstration in Murrysville, in Westmoreland.
The march in Murrysville, which is 95 percent white, followed local protests in other suburban and rural areas, including Butler County, Beaver County, and Fox Chapel.
Organizer Aryanna Hunter said that as a person with a black father and white mother, she has felt targeted by racism, but that she knows her community has a diversity of thoughts and values. As the crowd assembled, she told them: “I hope you continue to fight and show Murrysville that Black Lives Matter.”
Hunter is an Iraq War vet. She says as a person with a Black father and white mother, she’s felt targeted by racism. pic.twitter.com/Tak6tYMydM
— Kara Holsopple (@KaraHolsopple) June 14, 2020
Another speaker told the crowd that he had the same conversation about police violence with his twin boys as his dad had with him 30 years ago. “I’m frustrated,” he said, but also said the crowd gave him hope.
The group of several hundred marched down Old William Penn Highway past Franklin Regional Middle School, chanting, “No justice, no peace,” “black lives, they matter here,” and “I can’t breathe.”
Protesters are kneeling in silence remembrance of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/c9cTGoHqNq
— Kara Holsopple (@KaraHolsopple) June 14, 2020
The group paused, some kneeling and others laying down, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence, symbolizing the length of time that a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on the neck of George Floyd, killing him.
