For 8 minutes, 46 seconds protesters jogged in place outside of Birmingham’s Legion Field on Saturday to rally against police brutality.
“I am extremely tired of seeing my brothers walk on these streets scared for their lives, not only of the police but of regular, ordinary people of different skin color,” said Smith.
Luciana Guin, of Birmingham, one of the protesters, said blacks are still facing the same problems since Los Angeles police officers were videotaped beating Rodney King in 1991 that sparked riots.
The organizers at Legion Field also came with a list of demands, including “ending the war on black people,” said Douglas, “because at the end of the day this is a war that we are fighting.”
Other demands, from the group, include the immediate release without charges of all arrested protestors during nonviolent protests over the last two weeks, disciplinary action and termination be taken against all police officers who violently attacked peaceful protestors, a meeting with Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, the rightful conviction of the officer’s charged in Floyd’s death and the immediate termination of Birmingham’s current protest abolition laws.
