Live updates: Evansville protest crowd demonstrates peacefully at 'I CAN'T BREATHE' rally

Update, 9 p.m.: Die-hards remain

Around 30-40 people were still on Riverside Drive near the Four Freedoms monument, holding up signs and chanting. People passing by in cars continued to honk in support or raise their fists up through an open window.

There has been no more activity downtown near the Civic Center or the Ford Center, the area where the 5 p.m. protest took place.  

7:13 p.m.: Marchers return to Four Freedoms Monument

Popsicles and water are being handed out to marchers as they return to the Four Freedoms Monument on Riverside Drive. 

Back on Main Street, Joe Oppee, of Evansville, said he is part of a contingent of 6-to-8 Indiana Oath Keepers who volunteered to protect Main Street Family Dentistry and Milano Italian restaurant during Saturday’s protest in case the worst happened.

"We fully support the protesters' right to protest. We are simply here to protect the businesses in the event things got out of hand," Oppee told Courier & Press reporter Tom Langhorne.

The Oath Keepers are public service organization comprising active and former military, police and emergency medical responders, he said.

One of the leaders of the protest, Julian Washington, said the main messages from Saturday he wanted to get across were to teach people their rights with the police and understand they need to believe in change, not just talk about it.

“We’ve gotta understand we live in this world together,” he said. “It does us no good if we are divided together — if that makes sense. How can you be together on a planet physically but divided mentally?”

6:50 p.m.: All quiet at East Side retail centers

Despite concerns that some shopping centers might be targets for looters or other mayhem, everything remained quiet early Saturday evening.

There was no visible police presence at the East Side Walmart at Burkhardt Road and Lloyd Expressway and only a single Indiana State Police car was seen at Target.

6:45 p.m.: Protestors to resume march

Protest leaders have instructed the crowd to march back down Main Street to the Four Freedoms, where they intend to end the event.

As they marched, they chanted, “What’s his name? George Floyd” as well as “Black Lives Matter."

Shortly before that, a white man at the protest named Josh Williams just directed the crowd’s attention to an officer watching from the roof of the Signature School. “This is how you treat an unarmed black man!” Williams thundered. Then he hugged a black man and said, “I love you.”

Saeed Walcott told C&P reporter John Martin he believes change can come from being properly educated on voting.

“If reform is what we want as a people – and not just black people but people of color in general – it’s going to have to come from doing our part in the polls,” he said. “You need to vote ... you have a voice and if you’re not using it, then the systematic oppression that’s been going on not only in Evansville but in the country for over 200 years, it’s going to continue. There are things we can do right now to change aspects and the perception of this community in the future. It’s important for us to do our part in the polls, and not just presidential elections.”

6:32 p.m.: Tense moments at Main and MLK

There had not been any uniformed police presence at the rally. They mostly remained at intersections and on the fringes, such as on lookout from rooftops and upper floors of buildings.

However, there were a few tense moments at Main and MLK as police, fire and emergency response vehicles pulled up momentarily. The raucous rally lapsed into silence as people kneeled in unison.

EMTs arrived to help a person out who had a heat related illness. The emergency presence didn't last long, though. The rally has resumed.

6:10 p.m.: Protest crowd moves down Main Street

The crowd moved from the Four Freedoms and marched down Main Street until stopping at the intersection of Main and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, outside of Ford Center and beyond the orange barricades in front of the Civic Center.

A megaphone was passed around in the crowd as people applaud those using it to lead the group in chants. "No justice!" a man is shouting. "No peace!" the crowd shouts back. "I can't breathe."

"Black people have not been treated fair," Brittany Patton told Courier & Press reporter Tom Langhorne. "Please, stop shooting us. Stop killing us."

C&P reporter Brook Endale spoke to a pair of women about why they were protesting on Saturday.

"Well, I am a teacher and I feel like it’s a job of all teachers when their students are not safe and not treated safely to stand up for them," Mary Lynn Clark said. "That’s what a teacher does. I hope it helps them feel like they have someone in their corner and have people everywhere they go to fight for them."

Alhamisi Griffin said she’s tired, but she’s not tired enough to protest for a change.

“I’m scared,” she said. “When my children go out, I have them check in. They’re grown. I’m just tired of waking up to make sure they’re OK. I was racially profiled walking out of my own home and police followed me for five miles to my destination, and waited for me to get out of the car. My message is to stand behind this young generation so they can make a change – make sure they go out and vote.”

5:50 p.m.: National Guard and Indiana State Police are with EPD at blockades near Civic Center

Police have the roads in front of the Civic Center blocked off: Main Street between Sixth and MLK and MLK between Vine and Walnut streets.

There is a notable police presence at the intersections where the blockades begin and officers are being joined by National Guard soldiers and Indiana State Police.

As protesters were beginning to gather at about 4:46 p.m. a religious group asked to pray with National Guard, according to the police scanner.

Just before 6 p.m., police said they'd counted at least 400 in the crowd.

5 p.m.: Protesters gather on Riverside Drive

Dozens of protesters gathered along Riverside Drive around 4:30 p.m. and more than one hundred were on hand by the time they gathered at the Four Freedoms monument for the 5 p.m. scheduled start of Saturday’s rally.

The scene remained peaceful as protesters chanted and shared their opinions.

“Whose lives matter?” Julius Joyce said into a microphone.

“Black lives matter,” the crowd exclaimed in response.

The pattern continued with, “What do we want? Justice” and “When do we want it? Now.”

Julian Washington told the crowd: “We come in peace. We ain’t here trying to riot. But you gotta understand, people riot cause they’re tired.” He later told protesters don’t have to talk to police or consent to searches.

Some were handing out information about a bail fund set up for Evansville. Any persons arrested at a protest or demonstration in Vanderburgh Co. are encouraged to call 812-250-1449 or email evansvillebailfund@gmail.com.

Rev. William Moody spoke up to say, “God is saying, ‘Let my people go. President Trump, America, let my people go ... President Trump, you’re holding a Bible, but you’ve never read it.’”

The crowd comprised of people from many different backgrounds. They were there to fight for Black Lives Matter.

“Stand for reform,” said Larry Pope, 63. “Young people, you are my future.”

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Dozens of families gather at family rally

Children and parents drew phrases often found on protest signs, such as "Black Lives Matter" and "I Can't Breathe." Some wrote longer quotes, while others let their drawings do the talking.

More:Rally gives Evansville's children a voice against racism, police brutality

"We're drawing chalk for celebrating that black people matter," said 8-year-old Ava Hooper.

She said there were laws in that past that treated black people as though they were below white people.

"But that's not true," Ava said. "Black people are just the same as white people."

Phillip Schulz, one of the event's organizers, said the goal of the rally was to honor the memory of those who've been killed by police, and he hoped kids and parents would also make new friends across racial boundaries.

11 a.m. - 12 p.m.:  100s at Henderson 'Rally Against the Injustice' protest peacefully

About 200 people attended a Rally Against the Injustice held midday Saturday in Central Park in Henderson, Ky. There was no violence at the rally. However, there was a significant police presence in and around the park.

Many who attended the rally were young, including nine-year-old Kayden Mitchell. He carried a sign that said: "God puts us here to be good to each other, and not hate each other."

"It's hard seeing black people get killed just because of their skin color or where they grew up. And we need to stand up for when anyone gets killed period -- police officers, black people, white people, no one should die," said Aaliyah Utley, 16.

10-11 a.m.: White Coats for Black Lives rally 

Medical students, doctors, nurses and others in the medical field were joined by a number the community for a White Coats for Black Lives rally Saturday morning.

There were as many as about 80 at the rally where the gathered group chanting things like "No justice, no peace" and "This is what democracy looks like." The group marched from the Four Freedoms monument to the Civic Center and then back to the Riverfront.

Community activist Melissa Morehead spoke at the rally about injustices experienced by the black community in the medical community.

"Health is a human right, not a privilege to be protested," she said . "When we discuss healthcare disparity, typically the focus of discussion is on access to healthcare or lack thereof. For far too long, systemic racism has been an excuse, but clearly we see in 2020 it is now being exposed, and it is a problem. A problem that can not be overlooked, ignored or silenced.

"Too far often, we have treated health care disparities among black people that suffer from asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer which are just a few to name. It is treated as an issue related to our own zip code rather than our genetic code. Although it is true that access to healthcare for people who look like me is at a disproportionate rate. Data shows that people who look like me will die to a matter of a systemic issue rather than that of natural causes. "

Evansville, Henderson protests planned

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The Memorial Day killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police, has ignited a national firestorm that will touch down Saturday, again, in Evansville.

A rally, dubbed, “I CAN’T BREATHE: Protest Police Brutality,” will kick off at 5 p.m. at Four Freedoms Monument. Hundreds of people are expected to participate. It follows by one week a protest in Evansville that brought more than 500 people together. On Wednesday, at least 200 people protested the Floyd killing in front of the WEVV 44 television station Downtown.

Protests in larger cities have turned violent, and local law enforcement has pledged not to allow it to happen here Saturday. City government officials have publicly wished for a peaceful demonstration. Members of the Evansville Police Department and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office stood silently for eight minutes and 46 seconds – the amount of time an officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck – during a ceremony in Floyd’s honor at the former Roberts Stadium site Friday.

More:Will protests carry a new generation of electorate from the street to the voting booth?

More:Winnecke, Burton urge that Evansville protests continue to be peaceful

More:Evansville Police, Vanderburgh Sheriff honor George Floyd with ceremony

But social media has been crackling with unsubstantiated rumors of violence and discord on Saturday. Evansville will be in a spotlight. The stage is set for a day that promises to be emotional, revelatory and very much of this moment in American history with four rallies planned in the Tri-State today.