Emporia joined the rapidly-lengthening list of cities nationwide with protests over the recent death of George Floyd with a demonstration Sunday afternoon.
Unlike protests seen in several larger cities, the local protest was small and peaceful.
A handful of Emporia women joined Teddy Watson for an impromptu gathering at 12th and Merchant starting around 3 pm. Watson says her protest was the result of America’s history of race relations as borne out by Floyd’s death and a number of violent incidents that followed.
Emporia Police and Emporia State Police and Safety periodically monitored the protest with no issues.
Floyd, a black man, died last Monday as a white Minneapolis, Minnesota, policeman kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes after an incident at a deli where Floyd allegedly used a counterfeit $20 bill. The officer has been charged with murder, but protests rapidly developed across the country, many becoming violent with episodes of looting and property destruction on one hand and law enforcement shooting rubber bullets or tear gas at protesters and news reporters on the other. A number of large cities began enforcing curfews over the weekend as a way to defuse their respective situations.
Photos by Chuck Samples/KVOE News
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