Several hundred people gathered on Boston Common Wednesday for a Black Lives Matter protest that drew a heavy law enforcement presence, with pockets of police and National Guard soldiers armed with rifles up and down Tremont Street.
Organizers said the demonstration, called “Justice for George Floyd,” would be a peaceful event, after a Sunday protest on the Common and outside the State House gave way to chaos and looting in Downtown Crossing at night.
The crowd chanted “No justice, no peace” and “Enough is enough.” Demonstrators carried that read “Hands up, don’t shoot,” “Cops? Or murderers,” and “Silence is violence.”
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Sarah Thomas, 49, sang “A Change Is Gonna Come,” while clutching the leash to her elderly basset hound, who wore a Black Lives Matter T-shirt, and a homemade protest sign.
She walked to the protest from Cambridge with her two children, 17 and 13. She demanded local action.
“The change has to happen from within the cities. Local politicians need to check their own police departments. You know you have cops who are harassing black people. Do your job,” she said.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of marchers set off across the Centre Green toward Framingham City Hall, the latest in a series of daily demonstrations around Boston, the country, and world.
Organized by a Framingham teenager, the protest against racism and police brutality began around 1 p.m. as the group set out, carrying signs, spurred by recent instances in which Black individuals were killed by police — most prominently Floyd, who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. A white police officer held Floyd to the ground and pinned a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes, according to murder charges filed against him.
The peaceful protest followed several days of demonstrations in the wake of Floyd’s death, which was captured on video and led to the firing of four Minneapolis police officers and the charges against one.
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Reaction has continued since, both nationally and locally. Tuesday morning, elected officials of color held a news conference at the State House to call for a series of targeted reforms to address racial inequality and bias and brutality in policing; by Tuesday evening, thousands had gathered at Franklin Park for an emotional, impassioned rally that touched off smaller peaceful protests around the city as the massive crowd dispersed.
In Framingham, as protesters walked a passing motorist cheered out: “Thank you!” Horns blasted from passing cars on Union Avenue, some drivers leaned out with fists in the air.
One woman across the street yelled: “Only you kids can change this!”
The march was put together by 16-year-old Noah Montano-Rodriguez, a Framingham resident who attends the Keefe Technical High School in the city.
“Violence is not the answer,” he said. “Our hope is that people understand that protests and words are stronger than violence ... we can make a difference.”
Once they walk the roughly 2-mile distance to the City Hall, demonstrators will lie on the ground for several minutes — representing the time police pinned down Floyd in Minneapolis.
“He shouldn’t have been on the ground, with four cops surrounding him. ... he died because of someone who is ignorant,” Montano-Rodriguez said.
Montano-Rodriguez wants to become a police officer, and was spurred by scenes of violence that occurred at other rallies.
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“I wanted to organize it so we can stop the rioting, the looting, and the hate and violence from the bad cops out there,” he said. “I wanted to show everyone that not all cops are bad.”
David Abel can be reached at david.abel@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @davabel. Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Danny__McDonald. John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.
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Several hundred gather on Boston Common for Black Lives Matter protest - The Boston Globe
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