All that remained of a tense demonstration in downtown Gainesville Sunday morning were a few empty plastic water bottles scattered along Jesse Jewell Parkway near the pedestrian bridge.
Just a few hours before, several hundred demonstrators faced local law enforcement waving banners in their faces, some shouting profanities, all visibly upset over the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of a Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer.
Ultimately, the demonstration broke up with a promise of a meeting for a more organized protest effort. The Rev. Rose Johnson of the Newtown Florist Club has called for those who want to confront the issue of police brutality to meet together on Monday, June 1 at 5 p.m. in the vacant lot near the pedestrian bridge in Midtown Gainesville.
While no police reports are available yet, it appears there was no physical violence related to the protest. There have been unconfirmed reports of damage to a Gainesville Police Department patrol vehicle.
AccessWDUN has reached out to the Gainesville Police Department for information on any arrests that might have occurred during the protest.
Update #1 11:31 p.m. Saturday, May 30
A demonstration that began peacefully on Jesse Jewell Parkway in downtown Gainesville around 4 p.m. Saturday escalated into an angry confrontation between protesters and law enforcement hours later.
A group of about two dozen increased to hundreds - all protesting police brutality following the death of black Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer. The protest in Gainesville was similar to others that have erupted in larger cities across the nation, including Atlanta. Unlike other cities, however, the angry words did not turn to violence.
Rev. Rose Johnson, a longtime local civil rights activist, worked to calm demonstrators who were shouting at police officers and sometimes at one another. She used a megaphone to be heard above the angry crowd, calling for protesters to focus their energy on peaceful protest. Johnson asked everyone to meet Monday, June 1, on the vacant lot at the end of the pedestrian bridge become more organized in their effort.
The crowd began to disperse from the Jesse Jewell Parkway area around 11:30 p.m., but demonstrators continued to walk along E.E. Butler Parkway and along historic Green Street.
Follow this link to see AccessWDUN's Facebook Live video recorded near the end of the protest.
Original story 8:07 p.m. Saturday, May 30
In the wake of several protests - many of which resulted in vandalism, property destruction and violence - breaking out across the the country on Friday following the death of Minnesotan George Floyd, a number of Gainesville residents took to the streets Saturday as part of a series of peaceful protests that attempted to shed light on issues related to law enforcement's treatment of people of color.
Cherika Johnson, 27, helped organize the gathering in the downtown area, and said her group wanted to show that peaceful protests could make a difference, referring to the Atlanta protests that devolved in chaos at times on Friday.
"Me being the woman I am, I know that riots are incited for people not to be heard. It's an easy way to lock them up, to shut them up," she said. "We're out here to show them that, even though other people did it the wrong way, there's some of us who know how to do it the right way, to get our voices heard."
The New Orleans native, who came to Gainesville following Hurricane Katrina and later graduated from Gainesville High School, said her group had been out since 4 p.m. Saturday, and that they planned to come back each day until they could have a dialogue with local officials.
"And we're not trying to antagonize each other out here. We're trying to have real, open communication out here," she continued. "I would like to know know how my white friends feel; they would like to know how I feel. I would like to know were some hate was instilled; I would like them to know where my pain comes from."
"We're all out here, and, as you can see, all different races, because we have one mission, and that's togetherness."
Another protestor, Sylvester Osasu, said he wanted to voice his support for the black community.
"A lot has been going in the black community, like police brutality, so that made me want to come out," he said. "Something like that should not happen here, you should respect everybody, regardless of our color."
Originally from Nigeria, Osasu said he had been in the U.S. for 7 years, and was worried and the possibility that an incident similar to the death of Georg Floyd - who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for the better part of 10 minutes - could happen in his community.
"It's possible. That's why I'm here, to let everybody know that. Something like that should not happen here, so we need to educate people that what's going on is not right, that black people should not be killed like that for no reason," he explained. "In Gainesville, we don't want to tolerate that nonsense."
Johnson shared a similar sentiment.
"It didn't have to be provoked in Gainesville, Georgia, just to see that there could be better ways of arresting folks, there could be better ways of handling others, we're all one at the end of the day," she said.
Throughout the afternoon, Johnson said people driving by had been showing their support through cheers and honks.
"I keep telling people I want to cry tears of joy out here, because it's an amazing feeling," she said. "Our ancestors didn't have such great feedback. We can be that change. Everybody says there's no hope - there's hope."
On Sunday morning, Gainesville City Manager Bryan Lackey released a statement via the Gainesvillle Georgia Government Facebook page that the city has been informed that a commenter identified as a member of the Gainesville Fire Department had posted an "inappropriate, distasteful and baseless remark regarding the citizenship status of some demonstrators." The statement said officials had been told that "this comment has since been deleted."
"We want the public to know the comment(s) of this one individual do not, in any way, shape or form, reflect the views or position of the Gainesville Fire Department, nor city of Gainesville government," Lackey said in the statement. "The city prides itself on being a melting pot, and has zero tolerance for comments such as these. City and department leaders are in the process of personnel issues at this time."
