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A line of people kneeled near the Syracuse Police Department’s headquarters on S. State Street. In front of them stood protester Rickey Brown, urging the crowd to go home.

The organizers had gathered for a second night to protest police brutality following the death of George Floyd on Monday. Hundreds had marched down W. Fayette Street earlier in the evening, returning to SPD headquarters minutes before a citywide curfew took effect.  

“Organize with me, I protested today too,” Brown said. “I need y’all to go home, I need y’all to be safe.”

Mayor Ben Walsh declared a citywide state of emergency early Sunday after protests Saturday night ended in clashes with police and the looting of stores. The curfew, in effect through Friday, lasts from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m and applies to everyone except essential workers and those traveling for work. SPD will arrest anyone violating the curfew, Walsh said at a press briefing.

After the curfew took effect, protesters were divided on remaining in the area or returning home. Some protesters lay on the ground with their hands behind their back, in defiance of police orders. About 50 protesters remained at 9 p.m., discussing whether to leave as police watched them from a distance.

“If y’all don’t leave, it’s gonna get ugly out here,” one protester said. “All of this will be for nothing. ”

“If you want to leave, leave. If you want to stay, stay,” another said.

The crowd began to gradually disperse throughout the night after receiving several warnings from Syracuse police to leave the area. The remaining protesters began to leave S. State Street by about 10 p.m., CitrusTV reported. There were no arrests made or clashes between protesters and police on Sunday.

A protester is urging those who want to stay to go home: pic.twitter.com/xzAAfqNAiw

— Emma Folts (@emmafolts) June 1, 2020

Sunday’s protest had begun by 4:30 p.m., when a large crowd first formed outside SPD headquarters. Protesters began a peaceful march down S. State Street around 6 p.m., heading toward the Onondaga County Courthouse. 

They chanted, “Say his name, George Floyd,” and “Say her name, Breonna Taylor.” Floyd, a Black man, died a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. Taylor, a Black woman, was shot and killed in her apartment by Louisville police in March.

The march came to a halt shortly before 6:30 p.m on E. Onondaga Street outside the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, where protesters gathered around a police car blocking the street. Protesters, some standing and some kneeling, began chanting “I can’t breathe.” 

Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis police was charged with third-degree murder and mansalughter on Friday for the killing of Floyd. Chauvin was seen on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for several minutes as Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. 

Protesters kneeling in the road held a brief moment of silence before erupting into chants of “Black Lives Matter.” 

Around 6:30 p.m, a protester urged an SPD officer photographing the crowd from the top of a building to join the protest. The crowd began chanting “hands up, don’t shoot.” About four officers stood on the roof of the Sheriff’s Office, watching the protesters below. 

Protesters throughout the evening stressed the importance of unity and strategy.

“We need to have one mind, one goal. We need to organize, strategize, mobilize,” an organizer said to the crowd outside the Sheriff’s Office. “We need to protest with a purpose, we need to be on one accord, with peace.”

The crowd began moving down S. State Street at about 7 p.m., making their way along W. Fayette Street. Protesters continued to shout Floyd’s name as they marched. They marched for about 45 minutes, returning on E. Adams Street about 15 minutes before the curfew was imposed.

SPD issued a statement on Twitter shortly after 8 p.m. asking protesters to “please disperse.” 

“Shoot me with a rubber bullet while my hands are behind my back, please,” one protester said, lying on the pavement on S. State Street.

Around 8:30, talk began of ceasing the protest for the night. Some protesters moved onto the sidewalk or began walking down the street. About 20 people remained in the street an hour later. 

One protester encouraged the crowd to return again the next morning at 8 a.m.

“We are weaker if we’re not together,” a protester said. “Let’s disperse.”

“Bring more people with you tomorrow.”

Published on May 31, 2020 at 7:01 pm

Contact Sarah: scalessa@syr.edu | @sarahalessan