Hundreds march in peaceful protests from Miami to SoBe against police brutality

A weekend commemorating Juneteenth — June 19, 1865 — when Black people in Texas became the last slaves to receive word they were free, inspired a Saturday of peaceful protests against police brutality and racial injustice from Miami to Miami Beach.

Hundreds marched on feet and on bikes while condemning police violence against Blacks at protests in the South Beach, Liberty City and Wynwood areas, marking the fourth weekend of demonstrations since the death of George Floyd.

Floyd, a Black man, was killed May 25 during an arrest in Minneapolis, after a store employee called 911 and told the police that he had bought cigarettes with a $20 counterfeit bill. A white police officer placed a knee on his neck for more than eight minutes, leading to Floyd’s death, which was shown via cellphone video and sparked clashes with police around the nation.

Saturday’s demonstrations, by comparison, were tranquil.

Demonstrators filled streets in Liberty City and on South Beach, chanting for an end to police brutality while using music and dance to express themselves.

Altogether, about 200 protesters marched across Northwest 62nd Street in Liberty City and along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. Police blocked roads to oncoming traffic and escorted protesters to their gathering spots. There were no confrontations, even when a beer-drinking demonstrator briefly taunted a Miami Beach Police officer on Collins Avenue.

Demonstrators on South Beach walked behind a black advertising truck displaying a Juneteenth message and blaring music from the likes of Beyoncé and Tupac Shakur so loud that condo residents could hear on their balconies.

“Since when did Black lives matter on South Beach?” proclaimed protester François Alexandre, 34, whose own bloody run-in with Miami police in 2013 led him to sue. His face was printed on protest signs.

The march, which lasted two hours, led protesters to the Miami Beach Police headquarters, where an organizer played the “Imperial March” from Star Wars through a megaphone.

Protesters set off colorful, but harmless, smoke bombs and doused each other in festive chalk powder. They paused at several points throughout the march to hear music performances from local hip-hop artists and a dance number.

As they passed restaurants and businesses, the protesters were met with the recording cameras of passersby, prompting them to plead, “March with us!”

Before they set off on the march, one of the only held in Miami Beach in recent weeks, the group of more than 50 made signs and strategized at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Ocean Side Park.

From a $3 toy gun he bought at Family Dollar, 30-year-old Dariel Nuñez softly fired bubbles into the air as he sat under a tree.

Nuñez, who balked at the perception that protesters are violent people, said the message of Saturday’s march was to spread love and end racial injustice.

“We’re not here to be malicious,” he said. “We’re here to say we need change.”

Earlier on Saturday, 13-year-old Miami Beach resident Egyptia Green — accompanied by her mother — organized her third march on Ocean Drive.

In Liberty City, demonstrators marched 15 blocks to Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, where leaders from various community groups — including the 99 Jamz radio station — to set up a barbecue, dance off and voter registration drive mixed into one.

Jay Brooks, a local comedian and rapper, earned loud applause for his dance moves up on stage.

He said celebrating the community goes hand in hand with demanding social change. “You can being people together and have fun and still bring the message,” he said.

Dozens of attendees registered to vote or to receive mail-in ballots. Edith Owens, a volunteer with the Miami Gardens Democratic Party, said she helped register 30 people at the event.

“Protesting without being registered to vote is a standstill,” she said. “You need to be able to voice your right.”

As people gathered for an “Abolish Police” rally at Panther Coffee’s Wynwood location, social worker Penelope DiAlberto said she liked some concepts of law enforcement reform that included “more involvement of mental health professionals, social workers, other professionals.

“It doesn’t’ have to be always a cop with a gun answering to situations that don’t require that kind of response,” DiAlberto said.

Dean DiAlberto questioned “the over militarization of police” through military equipment such as armored carriers and the power of police union money in local politics.

“The municipalities are not a representation of the people, but of police unions,” Dean DiAlberto said, “The defunding [of police] has bad optics, but I think its heart is in the right place.”

When the rally began, one of the organizers, Miami’s Joseph Martinez II, struck a more strident tone by leading the crowd of about 70 people in the first of a few “F--- THE POLICE!” chants.

“We keep us safe. Not the police. They’ve had centuries to try to fix things and they haven’t,” Martinez said. “There is no such thing as reform. You can’t reform something that’s broken. I am not a reformist, I’m an abolitionist.”

The airing of grievances included police brutality and Miami State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle (Old West-style wanted posters were handed out of her), but also affordable housing, health care availability, corporate bailouts, the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision on campaign donations, and capitalism in general.

Meanwhile, in downtown Miami, supporters of President Donald Trump formed a caravan of more than 50 SUVs, trucks and cars as they honked their support for the police and the president.

Martin Vassolo: 305-376-2071, martindvassolo