A Peaceful Protest in Arcata Drew an Estimated 400 Demonstrators Against Police Brutality and Racism
Video and photos below by Thomas Lal
Though communities across the nation are erupting in reaction to the death of a black man, George Floyd, under the knee of a white police officer a week ago, today an estimated 400 people at the peak marched through Arcata peacefully with little sign of vandalism or of law enforcement.
Demonstrators listen to a speaker at the Arcata Plaza this afternoon.
The march began and ended at the Plaza where speakers took the microphone and at one point the large crowd peacefully stood or knelt for nine minutes in memory of George Floyd.
Though sometimes the rhetoric grew heated there were no complaints of vandalism or of over zealous law enforcement.
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- Demonstrators against police brutality and racism walk past Arcata City Hall on their way to the Arcata Plaza on June 1.
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![Demonstrators listen to speakers from the community at the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%203917%202611'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
- A speaker raises a fist while a flag waves in the background.
![Demonstrators listen to speakers from the community at the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/IMG_8603-noresize.jpg)
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![Demonstrators listen to speakers from the community at the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%203754%202503'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
- A young woman holds a sign and wears a mask to protect against the transmission of COVID-19
![Demonstrators listen to speakers from the community at the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/IMG_8533-noresize.jpg)
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![Demonstrators walk to the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%203568%202379'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
- Protesters marched through the streets.
![Demonstrators walk to the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/IMG_8466-noresize.jpg)
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![Demonstrators walk into the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%203783%202722'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
- They walked into the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism.
![Demonstrators walk into the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/IMG_8488-noresize.jpg)
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- A number of handmade signs were carried at the march.
![Demonstrators walk into the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/IMG_8471-noresize.jpg)
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- A demonstrator takes a moment to reflect while listening to speakers.
![A demonstrator takes a moment to reflect while listening to speakers from the community at the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/IMG_8641-noresize.jpg)
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- Signs calling for an end to police brutality and racism sit on the street beside demonstrators outside of Arcata City Hall.
![Demonstrators walk into the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/IMG_8442-noresize.jpg)
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- Protesters stand or sit at Arcata City Hall.
![Demonstrators walk into the Arcata Plaza protesting against police brutality and racism on June 1 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. [Photo by Thomas Lal]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/IMG_8437-1-noresize.jpg)
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- A young woman listens to speakers while wearing a mask that states, “I can’t breathe.” Both the dying words of George Floyd and the complaint of many who don’t want to follow Public Health Orders to wear masks.
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End qualified immunity.
https://reason.com/2020/05/29/the-supreme-court-has-a-chance-to-end-qualified-immunity-and-prevent-cases-like-george-floyds/
Bingo. One small step.
The “Elite 1%”ARE the Deep State Democrats. They are funding all the madness up into the election. And they keep making more money in the stock market… I don’t expect it to stop until election day. Protest big democrat government!
Protesting for political gain. Keep poking the bear while your at it, than blame the bear for ripping your head off. Millions see through the BS, which in turn is why Trump will be elected again. I’m just waiting to see what’s next on the liberal/socialists menu of how to make the president look bad before November.
Latest polls show Trump getting smaller in Bidens rear view mirror. The president is showing again that he is the greatest obstacle to his re election . Picking a fight with Twitter and attempting to tell the states how to conduct elections just another dumb move. His need to be the center of attention on all issues cuts both ways and lately his bait and switch diversions aren’t working. His recent rants on mail ballots shows how little he knows about election history. As seen in California’s recent special election mail in ballots continued a long term trend of favoring Republicans.
Shhhhh, Dave, let Trump make the bed he sleeps in, without us telling him how it looks.
Off the meds again? Perhaps you will provide a source? And please, Alex Jones doesnt count.
Who is Alex Jones? ….and a source for what? That the democrats are ruining this country for political gain? I would be here all day….but yes, I did run out of meds…
You saying “who is alex jones” twice in 4 months is like me saying “who is Kym Kemp”.
Quit lying gloom-doomer.
Hello Rover: I couldn’t agree with you more on “The Police” having qualified Immunity is one of the main reasons for police brutality against the “WE THE PEOPLE” Public! When the Police stops anybody for whatever reason (not breaking any laws) Like a passenger in a traffic stop or just walking down the street and the cops asks for your I.D. and you refuse because you have done nothing wrong, a lot of times the cop gets BUTT hurt because you didn’t respect his authority (6 months at the academy, getting a shiny badge and gun) somehow gives that Cop more authority over yourself than I have over myself. Because you didn’t respect/accept his/her authority the cops escalate the situation to another higher level and that is where things start to get out of hand! Almost all Police jurisdictions have insurance to cover the Police doing wrong which in and of itself does not come out of taxpayers pocket BUT the insurance premiums do ( which the taxpayers do pay for) Here’s what happens when cops violate the public constitutional rights (Both fed and state) of their citizens. It goes to the internal affairs division where 98% are not found to have done anything wrong! Fox guarding the chicken coop!!! So then you have to sue the department which COSTS TONS of money and might not be worth it to sue. Police know this, which means they start caring less about “WE THE PEOPLES RIGHTS” because they learn that they can get away with whatever they did wrong. This builds up a hatred over time!! The answer is for cops to have their own insurance, PAID out of their own pocket. If the cops continue to be azzholes the insurance will cancel their policy or their premiums will be so high that said cops just might think to change their ways. In the Police academy they do not, I will repeat, they do not teach their new cadets anything about Constitutional rights of the people, they teach coercion, intimidation and to obey my commands or else!!!
Malarky.
Thank you protesters! And thank you for wearing masks 😷 noticed some people at the Eureka protests not being super diligent about it. photos are on point. Black lives matter. Rest in power George Floyd 💖✌🏼☮️
Well done Arcata. Nonviolence is the way to win the conflict.
No worries, they’ll just raise your taxes to pay for the damages of the rioting and looting. Then, when insurance premiums go up for our businesses, we’ll be paying more for our products.
At least we’re still wearing gloves though when dealing with socialist idiots.
Nice.
Good work people!
nice interview here with a counter protester
https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=9UyW9_1591071952
Awesome. Glad to hear someone calling out the bullshit to their faces. Hypocrites indeed.
Both of you are ridiculous.
That was deep. Do you have anything to say that actually counters this women’s point of view?
Does she have a video of a black officer kneeling on the the dead body of another black man for 2 minutes, after 6 minutes of kneeling on his neck?
I take that as an unequivocal, “No, I don’t have any counter to her point of view that isn’t tainted by cognitive dissonance. “
You should take it as, “no, that apple is not this orange.”
But do as you will.
Ehhhh…….entertaining but not terribly enlightening. It’s not like she’s saying anything new, but she certainly leveraged her status as a Black woman to say it to their faces and it certainly gave that one white-lady-do-good fits. I did like her “ALL Black lives matter” turn of phrase with respect to the horrific rates of Black-on-Black violence. Would that get denounced as “racist” the way “All lives matter” is?
Imagine if the police, in all communities that had protests, all the police laid down their shields and took a knee…carried signs that said, we understand. Imagine that. Imagine if all pro athletes took a knee…if all audience members took a knee…everywhere. Maybe then we’d get the action that is so needed. I have refused to stand while at any sport presentation, during the singing of the national anthem…I am not proud of this country and by not standing I am protesting the way this country treats its people and the people of the world.
Imagine after a week if people just stoped rioting ,vandalizing, burning and destroying private property along with being getting killed over it? Imagine that. Than we wouldn’t have to get the military involved and put us in another form of lockdown. Some people love government control. Remember what Trump said in March….”this is a hoax derived by the left, let’s get this country back to work.” When your all in lockdown for another 6 months it was because of your own doing. Remember when anti maskers we’re ridiculed for protesting freedom and there jobs back? They did it peacefully and were told (ironically) that they were endangering people’s lives! Antifa and BLM promote violence and division, not peace and unity.
Why don’t you tell the rest of the world that this is all about taking down Trump? As a matter of fact Trump doesn’t constitute a pimple on the ass of an important figure anywhere else. He has succeeded in alienating most of the world leaders and has become a pariah to honest people everywhere. By the way you might point out that there is no organization called antifa so there’s no way the man can designate it a domestic terrorist group.
Obama’s reign divided our America even more than what it was before him.
Yes, due to all the racists who couldn’t accept a black man in the Oval Office!
🕯🌳The Sheriff in Flint Michigan did yesterday and walked with the people, no rioting, no burning of buildings, no busted windows and then they sat and talked. 🌍🐎🕊🖖
The Eureka police chief AND Humboldt county sheriff both walked with protesters Sunday from EPD back to the courthouse. With EPD Chief carrying a ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign!
No violence, no destruction of property.
Watson seems like a really good man.
Nice.
Hello Diane: I am proud of my country of yester year. It has changed a lot since I was born. (many moons ago) The NWO, the Deep State, both Red and Blue, Soros, Rockefeller plus the CFR, FBI, and of course the AGENCY which when I was in college was offered to join. I REFUSED!!!!!!! Fast forward; I was at a Supervisor meeting probably 15 years ago or so and I did not stand up when the Supes came into the room. I cannot honer anybody who stands/sits in front of OUR flag that has yellow trim around the edges (US Code 4.1 I think) A Sheriff came right next to me and just stood there. Just think if the whole audience did that? Again I was in the courthouse and I did the same thing for the same reason and again the Sheriff came over and just stared at me for about five minutes. The justice systems does not care much about justice, The Law enforcement does not know the Constitution. Our Health director knows little (if any) about health, and the Supervisors, Judges, Police forgot that they are our PUBLIC SERVANTS!!! Article 1 Section 1—-All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending Life and Liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, pursuing and OBTAINING ( I like that word) Safety, HAPPINESS ( I like that word too) and privacy.
Imagine if more buildings were burned with children inside.
Everyone has the answer but NOBODY wants to fix it!