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Day 2 Of Protests Near The Florida Capitol

Hundreds of protesters holds signs in the middle of Monroe St. in downtown Tallahassee.
Ryan Dailey/WFSU
Protesters approach College Avenue on Monroe St. Police blocked off Monroe for 3 minutes at the top of every hour for marchers, meant to represent the 3 people killed in Tallahassee police shootings this year.

Saturday’s National Day of Protest extended into Sunday, as protesters lined Monroe Street in front of the Old Capitol and the Leon County Courthouse.

Protesters held signs and chanted:

  • “No justice, no peace”
  • “Black lives matter”
  • “No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA”
  • “Enough is enough”
  • “Release the tapes,” which refers to body camera footage in the Tallahassee police shooting last week of Tony McDade.

Protesters also intermittently chanted that State Attorney Jack Campbell should “do his job.”

Several hundred participants gathered at the intersection of Jefferson and Monroe streets. Some distributed black string bracelets stressing that the protest would be peaceful. Some handed out bottled water, snacks, even hand sanitizer.

Tallahassee police blocked off part of Monroe at the top of every hour for 3 minutes, allowing protesters to go into the intersection. The three minutes were to represent the three individuals killed by Tallahassee police officers this year.

“The big reason we don’t like these extrajudicial killings is because these people are tried outside of any kind of system that gives them justice,” said Delilah Pierre with the Tallahassee Community Action Committee. Pierre helped organized a protest caravan around the Leon County jail on Saturday.

No serious injuries were reported Saturday when a truck drove through protesters downtown. Tallahassee police say the driver was detained, and they’re investigating.

The city was put under a curfew overnight starting late Saturday. The curfew will also be in effect from 11pm Sunday to 6am Monday.

Ryan Dailey is a reporter/producer for WFSU/Florida Public Radio. After graduating from Florida State University, Ryan went into print journalism working for the Tallahassee Democrat for five years. At the Democrat, he worked as a copy editor, general assignment and K-12 education reporter.
Gina Jordan is the host of Morning Edition for WFSU News. Gina is a Tallahassee native and graduate of Florida State University. She spent 15 years working in news/talk and country radio in Orlando before becoming a reporter and All Things Considered host for WFSU in 2008. Follow Gina: @hearyourthought on Twitter. Click below for Gina's full bio.