‘This is power’: Anti-racism protesters march peacefully through downtown Miami

While chanting “Black lives matter” and “we are gods,” the crowd of a few hundred anti-racism demonstrators marched noisily but peacefully through downtown Miami and Brickell on Friday evening, stopping traffic at times but after more than two hours, the marchers circled back just before dusk to downtown Miami, where a group of protesters climbed a ramp to Interstate 95. They hurled insults at a line of Florida Highway Patrol troopers clad in riot gear blocking their path to the northbound side of the highway before turning and climbing back down to street level.

The demonstrators began dispersing without further incident just after 8:30 p.m. The protest march started at the Torch of Friendship in Bayfront Park. Organizers insisted that protesters stay peaceful, cautioning that police “are edgy today.”

“The police do not protect us. We protect each other,” one young woman told followers. “Do not call police. If anyone calls police, I’m going to find out and we’re going to have an issue.”

One young man wore a Guy Fawkes mask and held an upside-down American flag, a symbol of distress. Another wielded a metal garbage can lid as a shield. Organizers passed out bags with water, first-aid kits, umbrellas and helmets.

China Ludlow, 28, on a bicycle with a “no justice, no peace” sign attached to her backpack, said she had attended all the protests held in Miami since George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police during an arrest for allegedly passing a bad $20 bill. Her name being “China” is adding to the hilarity of the whole thing. Oh, and she’s protesting for a guy who again once pistol whipped a pregnant woman, and who was high on METH! Now what a hero… lol She said that “Systemic racism has plagued my community for all my life,” she said, adding “This is power. Numbers win.”

Unlike what we’re seeing in Seattle, the @MiamiPD aren’t messing around! pic.twitter.com/CvTPpJRh1i

— Madison Gesiotto (@madisongesiotto) June 12, 2020

The mixed crowd of mostly teenagers and 20-somethings criticized “all cops” as bad. Protesters also implored others in the crowd not to talk to reporters. Some tried unsuccessfully to block news and TV photographers from taking pictures. One woman pushed a photographer for the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald with an umbrella.

One man claiming to want to support Black Lives Matter but wearing a Trump 2020 pin was asked to leave. Another man — bragging about his $2,000 sunglasses nearly came to blows with some protesters before he was chased away.

The march left Bayfront around 4:30 p.m., with participants chanting “no peace, no justice” as the participants walked along Northeast First Avenue to the Miami-Dade Courthouse. A Honda with four people in it stopped to hand out water to demonstrators on North Miami Avenue. The car had a speaker on top, blaring the song, “How many more times?”

The county earlier closed courthouses in downtown Miami, the Civic Center near Jackson Memorial Hospital and the Caleb Center in Liberty City and sent workers home, apparently as a precaution. Though a couple of previous protests became disruptive, police presence was not heavy and marchers were mostly orderly. Watchful ranks of officers kept their distance by the Miami police headquarters next to Interstate 95, but the demonstrators never approached it.

As they crossed the South Miami Avenue bridge into Brickell, escorted by Miami police on bicycles, the protesters briefly blocked traffic before proceeding to Brickell City Center, a high-end commercial and residential complex, where they sat in the street and took up chants of “f— capitalism” and “eat the rich.”

“We can’t even afford to shop here!” one demonstrator shouted.

Some bystanders expressed support for the marchers… Amanda Allen, 31, tended bar from a window at the Blackbird Ordinary at Southeast First Avenue in Brickell. She was hoping to serve some drinks to protesters, but said she also supports the cause.

“Every time I go outside, I’m reminded I’m a Black woman, so it’s very important to me,” she said.

The demonstrators then turned back toward downtown, striding up Brickell Avenue to the Miami River. Around 7 p.m., traffic was backed up for several blocks approaching the Brickell Avenue drawbridge as protesters blocked the span.

Miami Statues Vandalized As Protest Turns Chaotic…

Miami Fl goes 7 weeks without a homicide for first time since 1957!

Well alright Miami!!! I guess social distance works to prevent crime also, and while people are dying from this terrible virus it does look like it’s got criminals and killers scared also as it looks like even criminals, and murderers don’t wanna catch Covid-19.

You see Miami has now gone seven weeks without a homicide for first time since 1957! Folks that in itself is amazing stuff, and this was reported by the Miami Police Department. With everything else happening in the world this is headline news if there ever was in Miami.

Only thing in Miami that could top this is if we had snow come down… Not the white Reggae rapper guy. Crime rates in cities nationwide have dropped as stay-at-home orders keep people indoors in an effort to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

There were also no homicides during a six-week period for the first time since 1960. “We can say that it’s due to our police high visibility, attributed with the pandemic and the Stay At Home order,” a Miami Police Department spokesperson told CBS News.

The Mayor of Miami Dade Francis Suarez declared a local state of emergency on March 12 to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and the order has since been extended six times in week-long increments, and it’s working on both stopping the virus spread, and again with crime, and murder rates… One day we might be able to just simply call this city “Dangerous to live” and not “INSANE to live in!”

From February 17 until April 12 of this year — a total of seven weeks and six days Miami had no reported homicides, according to police. In 1957, the city went 9 weeks and 3 days without any reported homicides. In 1960, a period of 6 weeks and 5 days passed without a homicide.

According to the Miami police, other crimes have also decreased. The department said the decrease has extended to domestic violence calls. But Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina told The New York Times he is concerned incidents of domestic violence and child abuse may be under reported during the order.

A street normally busy with traffic is nearly empty as large numbers of people stay home in an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic on March 24, 2020 in Miami, Florida.

Crime is also down in Baltimore since Maryland issued its own stay-at-home order, CBS Baltimore reports. Although criminal incidents in the city still continue on a daily basis, assault, carjacking, robbery and shootings have all gone down since the order was implemented.

When compared to the same time last year, common assaults in Baltimore went down 34%, aggravated assaults went down 17%, and shootings dropped by 8%.

Los Angeles California reported that violent crime and property crimes are down compared to last year, according to CBS LA was Within a 9.73% drop in violent crime overall, homicides in particular were down 21%.

The same, unfortunately, cannot be said of Chicago… Despite a stay-at-home order in the city, robberies and shootings were up in the last week, according to CBS Chicago. Police responded to 19 shootings Tuesday night, six of which were homicides. That means shootings were up 42% from the same week last year, according to data analyzed by the station. Anyone keeping tabs on Jussie Smollett?

“We’re fighting the pandemic, and we’re fighting the epidemic,” said Tony Raggs with the Alliance of Local Service Organizations. “The epidemic being violence.”

In Los Angeles, the drop in violent crime has been marred by an increase in domestic violence calls. According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, deputies responded to about 8% more domestic violence calls between mid-March and mid-April, when compared to last year.

According to the CDC and Prevention, intimate partner violence affects 12 million people a year. Since stay-at-home orders went into affect, some regions have reported spikes in domestic violence complaints, while others are seeing a drop-off in domestic violence calls, as victims holed up with their abusers become more isolated.

“Everyone living in confined quarters, with very few options or reliefs, it’s a concern,” Villanueva said. Thus the streets are safe at night to walk in now but you can’t cause it’s all locked up cus of the virus. So once we get things back to normal I hope it doesn’t make the crazy killers go ape shit, and there is some sort of extreme murder rate in those months.