‘We must love and protect one another.’ Thousands gather at Michigan Capitol for peaceful protest - MLive.com

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LANSING, MI — A protest led by the Michigan NAACP’s youth and college division drew more than a thousand people to the state Capitol Wednesday to peacefully demonstrate against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, and to call for legislative reform.

Organized soon after a May 31 protest that saw thousands gather at the Capitol and march through Lansing neighborhoods, protesters and law enforcement officials gathered at the Lansing Center on Michigan Avenue at noon June 10 to march toward the Capitol.

Thousands gather at Michigan Capitol for protest against police brutality

They led chants and calls for change as a variety of speakers stepped up to a podium facing the Capitol lawn from the building’s front doors.

“We must love and protect one another,” Kyra Mitchell, a 21-year old Eastern Michigan University graduate and president of the Michigan NAACP’s youth and college division, said to the crowd, many of whose members stood with fists raised. “We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

Wednesday’s two-hour protest included a moment of silence in memory of Floyd, nine different speakers and calls for political engagement as citizens. Lansing Mayor Andy Schor and Lansing Police Chief Daryl Green were among the marchers.

“I was here to listen,” Green said. “To really take an in-depth level of introspection for our department. What I heard today is they are asking for our police departments to get better and certainly we want to get better.”

Many state and Lansing police officers marched in uniform along with protesters, in some cases kneeling among the crowd.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after being handcuffed by Minneapolis police investigating an alleged forgery the night of Monday, May 25. Video shared widely on social media shows white Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. In the footage, Floyd can be heard repeatedly saying he cannot breathe as civilians urge Chauvin to get off him and check his pulse.

Floyd’s death set off a series of protests in cities across the state and country in the last two weeks, some of which have been violent.

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“Black lives still matter, black lives still are loved, black lives are still valuable, black lives are still wonderful, black lives are still special,” David Wiggins, the NAACP’ youth and college division organizer and adviser said, pumping his hands into the air. “I often tell people wherever I go, If God made a class of people better than black people, he kept it for himself. So, when I say: black lives matter, I just want you to throw your first up and say, ‘black lives matter.’"

In reaction to word that protesters were going to camp out by the House Office Building on Ottawa Street Tuesday night, the state House of Representatives canceled the Military Vets and Homeland Security and Transportation committee meetings Wednesday morning.

“As the House has been doing recently on days with scheduled protests, staff have been encouraged to work from home," said Gideon D’Assandro, spokesman for House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering. "The Capitol remains open and committees are still meeting there.”

A focus on the importance of young minority individuals was a central theme of Wednesday’s protest, Mitchell said.

“It becomes personal when you have family members, younger brothers, younger cousins, who are impacted by this a lot and they don’t understand,” Mitchell said. “My little cousin, he can’t play with his toy guns outside. My little cousin is only 6.”

Mitchell and others voiced support for legislation recently passed by the Senate requiring Michigan law enforcement officers to undergo ongoing training on implicit bias and violence deescalation and to participate in mental health screening.

Mandatory bias training for police passes Michigan Senate

“Right now you see how its different because there’s black people, brown people, white people, there is everybody out here, who are sick and tired of being sick and tired of seeing the injustices that happen to the black community,” Daniel Mahoney, a Jackson County commissioner and president of the Jackson County branch of the NAACP, said.

By 2 p.m., rain and poor weather set in and most of the crowd had dispersed. Organizers set up tents for voter registration and to refer people to get tested at Sparrow Hospital for the novel coronavirus.

Also on MLive:

Thousands gather at Michigan Capitol for protest against police brutality

Protesters march again in Grand Rapids over police brutality and racism

Michigan school district superintendent fired after Facebook comments about George Floyd

Detroit protesters to discuss ’23 demands’ with Mayor Duggan on Monday

Lansing police seek help gathering information after destructive protest

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