Over 200 people rallied in Williams Park in St. Petersburg, Florida on August 30. They demanded an end to militarized police violence on people of color, standing in solidarity with the resistance in Ferguson, Missouri.
“I’m here for Ferguson,” Zoe Griego told Liberation News. “I feel that the officer that shot Michael Brown should be in jail and prosecuted rather than be on vacation. I feel that this is something that we see time and time again, thousands and thousands of teens dying and there’s no justice for them. Enough is enough.”
The protesters played guitars, sang, recited spoken word and wrote possible solutions to police brutality on a long scroll of paper unfurled on the sidewalk. Community members from various walks of life spoke on stage. Several organizations spoke as well, including Nation of Islam, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Students for a Democratic Society and ANSWER Coalition.
“In a unified way, we have to say we’re not going to tolerate it any more,” said Carla Bristol, a lead organizer of the rally. “We also don’t want to continue to see the police policing themselves. It’s vital that there are organizations above the police that can help police the police.” Other speakers also demanded the creation of an independent review board made of community members to monitor out-of-control law enforcement.
Several families and women whose children were murdered by the police attended the rally.
Deanna and Andrew Joseph Jr. from Riverview spoke about the loss of their son Andrew Joseph III. Andrew, a 14-year-old Black youth, was wrongfully detained, transported and abandoned by police in the middle of nowhere. Police did not even notify his family after removing him from the Florida State Fair. Tragically, he was struck and killed by a car on Interstate 4.
Deanna and Andrew Joseph Jr. spoke passionately to the crowd gathered in Williams Park about the need for a growing movement.
“No parent or family would like to go through this,” said Deanna. “This has been thrown into our lives. But then we have a police department that is acting like we did them something when in actuality, they did us something. As we stand here—broken hearted as we are—we know that we must do something, we must be that voice for your children and for those other children who are impacted by this environment. It’s not by chance that we are here today. It needed to be said, we needed to tell you today, that we stand with Justice for Mike Brown and all those other people like Rodney Mitchell, we stand with all those families today, because now we’re on a pathway and it’s time for us all to wake the hell up!”
“We need justice. We needs rights. We need it now. We can’t wait for tomorrow,” said Andrew Joseph Jr. “We stand up here because we don’t want any other family to have to stand up here and go through the grief that we’re going through. Yesterday was my son, tomorrow it could be your son. We have to make a change now. At this point right now, my daughter just lost her big brother, her protector, her mentor. So in return we bought her a therapy dog. Her and this dog have been inseparable. It’s done wonders for the whole family. But at this point as a dog owner, I couldn’t abandon my dog and ten or twenty minutes later it gets hit crossing the street. At this point, in 2014, they telling me that my son don’t have the rights of a dog. He don’t have the rights of a dog. He was taken out the safety of the fair grounds, put into official police vehicle, transported to destination X and simply abandoned, without a phone call. This is 2014. We deserve better!”
Natasha Clemons, whose son Rodney Mitchell was murdered by Sarasota law enforcement, and Omega Velez, whose son Elias Guedarrama was killed by police earlier this year in Bradenton, accompanied Bryan Ellis, coordinator of ANSWER Coalition Sarasota-Manatee, on stage.
“I’m here so that we can stop the violence,” said Ms. Clemons. “I am Rodney’s voice. He no longer has a voice.” She then led the crowd in a chant of “HANDS UP, DON’T SHOOT! HANDS UP, DON’T SHOOT!”
The murder of Natasha’s son Rodney Mitchell by Sarasota deputies in 2012 has sparked two years of protests and outrage that show no sign of ending until justice is won. Ms. Clemons has also started the Rodney Mitchell Foundation to help other families cope with their own tragedies.
Omega Velez also spoke briefly about the death of her son Elias Guedarrama. Earlier this year, Bradenton law enforcement hunted down Elias, cornered him behind a house and told all bystanders to go back into their houses. They claim that he shot himself, but crime scene evidence contradicts their accounts. One witness also heard the officers using racial slurs.
“I want my son to have justice,” said Ms. Velez. “I want him to rest in peace. I think it’s wrong what they did. How can they, after they kill him, say that he suicide himself, when he was all against that? I remember his words telling me ‘that is so stupid’ to commit suicide, because his friend had done it. All his friends, they came the day it happened, and said ‘it’s a lie, it’s a lie.’ He did not suicide. That’s the way they’re covering up their murders now, it’s a new way of killing from policemen. I hope this is going to change and that you tell a friend to be more supportive of this. These are your kids in this world and I want them protected, not killed by them. They’re supposed to serve and protect. What are they serving? What are they protecting? ”
“NOTHING AT ALL!” shouted community residents. “THEMSELVES!”
Ashley Green, a local organizer in St. Pete, spoke about the importance of fighting for women and LGBTQ people of color, not just young men.
“We can’t forget our young women, gay individuals, our young transgender people of color who have been victims of racism,” said Ashley. “Every time we talk about Trayvon Martin, we need to remember Renisha McBride, who was gunned down trying to get help from a gentleman. Twenty-two year olds, why was her life taken? Please do not let this narrative only be about our young men. We as a people are being targeted and there are so many victims of violence
that don’t come up in conversations now, so many transgender women here in St. Pete, here in Florida, there have been at least three murders locally. We need to work to fight in their honor, just as hard as we’re fighting for Michael Brown, for Elias, for Rodney, for Andrew.”
Liberation News also spoke to community member Jessica Rivera to get her thoughts. “Basically, I’m here today, I believe we’re all one, we’re all one human race. Racism divides the world and we need to come together as one. If we come together under one voice against corruption, against police brutality, against inequality, that’s what the world needs. We need to stay hopeful. Police need to be monitored a lot more, as much as we’re being monitored 24/7. They need to be held accountable for any police brutality and misconduct. When civilians commit crimes, we’re put through the justice system, we have to go to trial. These cops get away with these things, they’re not held accountable the way they should be.”
