GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Hundreds of people marched the streets of downtown Green Bay Sunday afternoon in a much quieter protest.
The protest in Green Bay was a far cry from the demonstrations that turned violent elsewhere in the country. That was by design, says organizer Paola Ruiz.
“[We’re] showing the people that we’re not thugs, that we’re not criminals that we’re not here to ruin the United States,” “We’re here to rebuild it. We’re here to make it better.”
That’s not to say there wasn’t anger. Some screamed at police. Hundreds held signs as they marched. “Black Lives Matter” read many. “I can’t breathe” read others. Some took on a different tone, reading “ACAB”, for “All Cops Are Bad”. Some flew flags–an upside down American flag. A red and black anarchist banner. Many wore t-shirts bearing Floyd’s face.
Protesters were not placated by the charges since filed against Derrick Chauvin, the former Minneapolis Police Officer who was filmed holding his knee on George Floyd’s neck just before Floyd died.
“It’s bulls–t,” said protester Raiyana Williams. “He needs to be charged. For all of it.”
Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder, which under Minnesota law is murder that was not intentional, but was committed with a “depraved heart”.
Williams attended the protest with her newborn daughter.
“I just hope that she can see her cousins grow up,” said Williams. “Because she has black cousins, she has black uncles.”
Green Bay Police kept a close eye on what was going on. Squad cars blocked off streets – protecting protesters as they marched towards the police station.
“People are mad. And they have the right to be mad. And from the police department’s perspective, we want to make sure that everything’s peaceful in the city of Green Bay,” Police Commander Kevin Warych told WTAQ News, “We want all people feel safe. And if people want to protest, they can. We just ask maybe to stay on the sidewalks and not block traffic, but if they’re in the roadway will block roads off and we’ll make sure that they’re safe doing so.”
Once they arrived in front of the police department, protesters filled South Adams Street in front of the building. A circle formed in the street – where a handful of individuals took to the megaphone to speak. Some even challenged Chief Andrew Smith to address the crowd, while some yelled to not let him talk.
Some attendees were surprised when Smith eventually made his way to the center of the crowd and asked to say a few words.
“Thank you for peacefully demonstrating. This is as American as apple pie. It’s what America’s all about,” Smith announced.
After briefly thanking the crowd for a peaceful and relatively calm protest, Smith addressed the elephant in the room.
“I saw that video that you all saw. Just like you, I was sickened. It was one of the most horrible things I’ve ever seen…Watching a police officer wearing the uniform that I wear proudly doing something as despicable as that, I said to myself – ‘That’s murder right there,’ and sure enough, 2-3 days later he was dead,” Smith said, “If you’re not disgusted it as a police officer by what you saw in Minneapolis, you’re in the wrong business.”
The crowd erupted in cheers – many nodded their heads and raised signs to show their approval of his approach and comments.
“We have a long way to go in law enforcement. We have a long way as far as accountability, and the person that is responsible for holding officers accountable for the actions that they take is me,” Smith said, “We’ve got good people that work here. We don’t hire people that don’t have the character to be good police officers to be honest to be hardworking to treat people fairly.”
Some protesters then challenged the chief to walk with them – to which he responded:
“Which way are we going?”
The group took off back towards City Deck, where they initially gathered.
“What we just witnessed here in front of the PD is – when people want change, they do it peacefully – and collectively and people are doing that. And that’s what we encourage,” Commander Warych said.
The entire rally lasted about two hours – at times filling the streets and bridges around downtown Green Bay.
WTAQ Reporters Rob Sussman and Casey Nelson contributed to this story.
