AUBURN — “Silence is complicity.”
“Justice for George Floyd.”
“We will not be silent.”
These were a few of the messages on signs held by some of the few-dozen people Sunday afternoon who took to the streets of Lewiston and Auburn to protest police brutality and the death a week ago of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The crowd marched from Festival Plaza in Auburn and across the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge. It included a brief stop at the Lewiston Police Station before concluding at the Auburn Police Station on Court Street.
The protest added the Twin Cities to the long list of cities of all sizes around the country where people are standing up against police brutality.
The local protest was largely peaceful, with demonstrators chanting, “I can’t breathe” and “No justice, no peace.”
The only incident occurred when a group of protesters blocked a truck flying a “Trump 2020” flag and ripped it from the truck. The two trucks, which were adorned with Confederate flags, followed the procession as it marched, with the trucks’ drivers honking their horns and revving their engines.
One participant said Sunday’s protest was a way to give a voice to an important movement.
“We’re tired of keeping our mouths closed. We’re tired of the injustice. We want voices to be heard,” the protester said. “It needs to be known. We’re not taking it anymore. We’re not going anywhere. So you’re going to deal with us, period. We all bleed the same.”
Kelsey Turner of Auburn said she planned the protest out of outrage. She said she made a Facebook event, shared it and the attendance list snowballed.
“I had no idea what I was doing,” Turner said. “I didn’t think anyone would come.”
Another protester, who only wanted to be identified as Mercy, said protesting helped bring awareness to an issue that has long been a problem in the United States.
“This has been an issue for so long — black people being murdered,” Mercy said. “It’s definitely important to show that people are out there.”
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