Pittsburgh-area protests commemorate Juneteenth, demand racial justice and equality

| Back | Text Size:

https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/wilkinsburg-protest-commemorates-juneteenth-day-rails-against-racism/

Pittsburgh-area protests commemorate Juneteenth, demand racial justice and equality

Dillon Carr | Friday, June 19, 2020 2:59 p.m.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

People participate in an event in honor of Juneteenth on Friday, June 19, 2020.

People across the Pittsburgh area took to the streets Friday to commemorate Juneteenth, a day marking the end of slavery 155 years ago.

“This is our Independence Day,” Fawn Montgomery, co-founder of Take Action Mon Valley, told a crowd gathered along the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway in Wilkinsburg.

Friday’s commemorations weren’t just a celebration of the end of that chapter in American history.

In a continuation of protests that have occurred across the country since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, crowds that gathered Friday in Wilkinsburg, East Pittsburgh, multiple locations in Pittsburgh and elsewhere called for police reform, racial justice and equality and the start of a new chapter in American history.

In Wilkinsburg, Montgomery explained Juneteenth to the protesters gathered along Martin Luther King, Jr. East Busway.

On June 19, 1865, a Union general — Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger — read the Emancipation Proclamation to people in Galveston, Texas, letting them know the proclamation had freed enslaved men, women and children.

Shortly after noon Friday, family members of Romir Talley, a 24-year-old black man who was killed by a Wilkinsburg police officer Dec. 22, emotionally pleaded for answers into his death.

Police have said Talley fired shots toward the officer, prompting the officer to return fire. Latasha Talley, Romir’s mother, said she is not satisfied with that explanation.

“I’m hurt. And I can’t sleep at night, because every time I close my eyes at night I see my son laying there on the ground and I wasn’t there to protect him,” she said to the crowd.

Talley’s family led the group of protesters while holding a white banner with three photographs of Talley that read, “I was just walking. Justice for Romir Talley.”

Before marching, Brandi Fisher of the Alliance for Police Accountability asked the crowd gathered to remember three people who lost their lives in Wilkinsburg early Friday, about a mile away from the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway.

Two men and a woman were found dead near the 1400 block of Coal Street. Police described the suspect as a black man who was wearing a light blue shirt and khaki pants at the time of the shooting. He was seen fleeing the scene in a royal blue Pontiac G6, police have said.

Protesters began marching around 1:30 p.m. down Penn Avenue until ending the demonstration at Mellon Park, stopping for breaks and speeches along the way. Once at the park, the Allegheny County Black Activist/Organizer Collective provided protesters with lunch.

Artists also led the group by pushing two colorful structures.

About 1:45 p.m., protesters took a moment of silence at Penn and South Braddock avenues that lasted 8 minutes and 46 seconds. The act was done to remember Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on May 25 in Minneapolis.

The former police officer faces second-degree murder and other charges. Three other officers who were fired also face charges.

Floyd’s death touched off protests around the world and country, with people calling for police reform, reduced police spending and new legislation aimed at stricter punishment when police improperly use lethal force.

At one point during Friday’s protest, a leader from the Allegheny County Black Activist/Organizer Collective took a moment to read each of the 12 demands it presented to Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

Applause erupted after each demand was read. The activists have called for cutting the police budget, removing all police officers from schools and redirecting money to social programs.

By 2:45 p.m., the group had made its way to Mellon Park in Point Breeze. There, some protesters hoisted piñata-like models into a tree. One was a police vehicle and the other was an elongated pyramid with the words “Kops & Klan go hand in hand” painted in red.

Christian Carter, one of the leaders of the protest, beat the cardboard models down with a stick. Once ripped from the ropes, Carter threw the pieces into the park’s parking lot while others helped to light a fire.

“We don’t need no water, let that (expletive) burn,” the crowd chanted as the cardboard went up in flames.

Protesters hoisted piñata-like models up in a tree. One was a police car, the other said “Kops and Klan go hand in hand.” One leader hit them down, then lit them on fire. Lots of symbolism going on here. #JuneteenthDay #pittsburghprotest pic.twitter.com/T04gk3tUnl