The protestors marched around the area surrounding the Calloway County courthouse while chanting "no justice, no peace," "hands up, don't shoot," and "say his name, George Floyd."
The protest follows the death of George Floyd of Minneapolis, Minnesota, after police officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd's neck for approximately 9 minutes, allegedly leading to Floyd's death. The protest also follows a letter from Murray State assistant football coach Sherman Neal II to local officials, calling for the removal of the Confederate statue at the court square.
West Kentucky Star spoke with one of the protestors about the protest.
"We came out here to spread awareness that black lives do matter. We know all lives matter, but, you know, it's a certain group of people that are being oppressed right now, and we just wanted to bring that issue into the light. We are in this together, like they say for the pandemic, but even after this pandemic is over we're still all in this together. The only way everyone's going to be at peace is if everybody learns to accept each other."
Aside from those protestors, there were a small group of people present to show their support for the Confederate statue.
One person showing his support for the statue said, "I'm out here to protect my heritage, to protect my home, and to protect the livelihood of my fellow man. I agree with these protestors, change does need to happen and I'm okay with that. But violence and all that, we don't need that, we need to come together."
Later in the protest, a man drove by the crowd of protestors and sprayed some of them with pepper spray. He was arrested a short time later.
On the Net:
Murray Assistant Coach Calls for Removal of Statue
