Organizers are planning a seventh day of protests against killings by police Wednesday at multiple locations in the Phoenix area.
Protesters with Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro, Mass Liberation Arizona, Fund for Empowerment and Poder in Action will gather around 1:30 p.m. at Phoenix City Hall before a scheduled budget vote by the Phoenix City Council.
They plan to petition Mayor Kate Gallego and members of City Council to defund the Phoenix police.
The gathering is a bid for structural change after six days of protests over the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Dion Johnson in Phoenix, both of whom were killed by law enforcement officers.
According to Ben Laughlin, a spokesperson for Poder in Action, the groups are asking to move 25% of the police department's budget into "programs that create safe and healthy communities." They also request that Phoenix police end its collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among other demands.
Thousands of Phoenix residents have demonstrated and exercised their First Amendment rights for six days to demand change, the groups noted in a joint statement.
In response, the groups said, the Phoenix Police Department has "pulled residents out of their cars, destroyed property, and arrested hundreds without any evidence that the residents were involved in the rioting the police have charged them with."
Phoenix police arrested more than 300 people at protests on Saturday and Sunday for rioting, unlawful assembly or disorderly conduct, according to the department. There were no new arrests Monday or Tuesday.
On Facebook, Fund for Empowerment encouraged protesters to "come out for one of the most important city council meetings of the year."
Other protests will be at 5 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Park and at 6 p.m. in Goodyear Community Park. Both are described as peaceful protests in social media posts.
Further protests may be scheduled or announced throughout the day.
Reach the reporter at Helen.Wieffering@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @helenwieffering.
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