Washington — Thousands marched and protested against police brutality in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, keeping the May 25 death of George Floyd on the White House’s collective mind by demanding the city defund its police force.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser designed a city block near the executive mansion as “Black Lives Matter Plaza”; protesters added the words “=Defund the police” in bright yellow paint.

Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, is charged with killing Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.

For members of Black Lives Matter DMV—the letters refer to D.C., Maryland and Virginia, not the motor vehicles bureau—her gestures were not enough.

”“God, I see people who walk as activists in love and justice and mercy and humanity,” recent Princeton University graduate Mikal Walcott prayed aloud.