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Event organizers Jahmar Anthony and Zion Givens ask the crowd to hold up a fist and observe an 8 minute and 46 second moment of silence for Geroge Floyd during the vigil at the Dunbar Pavilion on June 1, 2020. Floyd was killed Monday, May 25 after a police officer held his knee to the 46-year-old Minneapolis resident's neck for nearly nine minutes.
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Hundreds of Tucsonans attended Monday night's vigil in remembrance of Geroge Floyd and others killed by police. Many from the local community testified to the fear and brutality they and loved ones suffered at the hands of law enforcement over the years. "Tonight this candlelight vigil is by definition in honor to remember those that have fallen and have been taken from us," said Shannoah Green to the crowd. "It's also important that changes are demanded immediately with regard to holding our state leaders and local officiants accountable to protect the people. Specifically, Black people in Tucson."
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"We all want to live and see tomorrow. So, I say stay peaceful because destroying your brother and sisters businesses...we got coronavirus going on that has kept people not working for three months," NAACP Tucson Branch president Doris Snowden said during the vigil. "Please think about that before you destroy another person's property. Find a cause you want to work with. Keep lives alive. Stay peaceful and may God bless you."
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Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus bows his head during the moment of silence for George Floyd next to a young woman holding a sign reading OUR LIVES MATTER. "This is a very tough time for policing but an even tougher time to be a Black person in this country," Magnus said during a press conference regarding the riot in downtown Friday, May 29. "Sadly, its a part of a long history of really ugly kind of relationship many of us are determined to change, no matter what setbacks we encounter."
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A person in the crowd listens to the testimony of Ashley Johnson, whose father was killed by an off-duty police officer after the officer racially profiled the 28 year-old-man while he was pumping gas. "I want our voices to be heard. I don't want our voices to be muted by all the rioting and looting," Johnson said. "I've been silent. I've been silent since I was a child. His trial was 15 years ago and that was the last time I spoke about it. He never got justice."
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Participants light candles after the moment of silence for George Floyd at the Dunbar Pavilion on Monday, June 1. "Remember the faces who talked today. Remember your brother to your left and your right today," Event organizer Jahmar Anthony said at vigil's commencement. "Look who's next to you. All races. We're fighting the same fight. Enough is enough."
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After the vigil, a group of provocateurs overtook the stage to express their point of view on problems African-Americans face with law enforcement. "Voting isn't going to do shit. We should not have to vote to be seen as a fucking human being. There's no such thing as a good cop. All cops are bad cops," said the woman pictured above. "Their job is to murder us. This whole 'be peaceful'...they killed those niggas in peaceful situations. Peace isn't gonna get us nowhere. We've been fucking peaceful. They're the ones to escalate."
