Speakers tell marchers to keep at it
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
More than 125 people wended their way through downtown Monday to show support for protests across the nation against the recent deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police.
Chanting “no justice, no peace” and “hands up, don’t shoot,” the crowd marched from the Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse on Commerce Street to the Mahoning County Courthouse on Market Street. Speakers told the crowd they needed to stay involved in more than just Monday’s march and they must practice peaceful civil disobedience if they want to see changes happen.
“We don’t want you to just march,” the Rev. Kenneth Simon, one of the organizers, told the crowd. “We want you to be in the movement.”
Andre Davis of Youngstown was on a break from work but wanted to take part in the march because, he said, he wanted “to stand up for peace.”
“People want stuff to happen,” Davis said. “Things need to change for the better.”
The march centered around perceived police misconduct in the deaths of two black men this summer who encountered police, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York City. In both cases, grand juries declined to indict the officers who were involved in their deaths.
They also spotlighted the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland in November, who was shot to death by a police officer after he had a toy gun in his hand. That case has yet to go a grand jury in Cuyahoga County. One of the national rallying cries is “Black Lives Matter,” and marchers carried signs with that motto Monday.
Defenders of police say that if Brown or Garner had not resisted police and simply complied with their commands, they would still be alive today. Also, defenders say the toy Tamir was holding looked like a real gun and the officer had to make a split-second decision as to whether he posed a danger to him.
From the steps of the courthouse, the Rev. Mr. Simon told the crowd that they need to stand up for young children who see young black men “gunned down in the street” or are injured because of excessive force used by police officers. He said the failure of courts to take action against officers shows that the justice system cannot be counted on.
“The failure to indict has sent a clear message that our justice system has failed us,” Mr. Simon said.
Mr. Simon also made note of the diversity of the crowd, saying there were all types of people attending the march.
Tara Walt, who is white, belongs to Youngstown Cop Block, which monitors police activity and attended the march. She said police should be held accountable for their actions and police departments should not investigate themselves in cases of misconduct.
“I think outside sources do need to step in and investigate these cases,” she said.
Pastor Ross Johnson of Bethel Church of God In Christ on Glenwood Avenue also was marching. He said he wanted to make a stand against police misconduct in Youngstown and Beavercreek near Dayton, where a man was killed by a police officer this year while he was holding a pellet gun in a Walmart. Pastor Johnson said he has been pulled over several times and officers let him go when they found out he is a pastor.
He said the best way to stop the problem is to start talking.
“The main way of stopping this problem is to have these dialogues we’re beginning to have,” Pastor Johnson said.
When asked how some criticize protesters for marching against police abuse but not about the homicide rate in the black community, Pastor Johnson said all lives matter and that the problem of black-on-black crime is as big an issue as police misconduct. He said better training is needed for police to help them deal with people in the field.
The Rev. Lewis Macklin, another rally organizer, also said all lives, not just black lives, matter. He said ongoing talks with the police department so far have produced a good dialogue and he wants it to continue.
Before the march began, Mr. Simon thanked the police department and the sheriff’s office for escorting and watching over the marchers. He also said he is opposed to any violence and he said anyone who had thoughts of violence should make plans to leave the march.