More than 100 cars made up “a rolling rally“ Wednesday that ended with a die-in protest outside of Gov. Charlie Baker’s home in Swampscott.
The rally, organized by the Rev. Dr. Andre Bennett of Zion Baptist Church in Lynn, along with others, called on not just Baker but also Essex County officials, including Sheriff Kevin Coppinger, District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, and area police departments, to support their efforts, according to Wicked Local.
The rally was part of ongoing demonstrations to push for justice and equality following the death of George Floyd, the Black man killed in Minneapolis police custody last week. The protest began in Beverly, proceeded through Salem, and ended in Swampscott in front of Baker’s home. Along the way, the rally organizers dropped off copies of a letter, the news site said.
“George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight by police officers while others stood by and witnessed his unprovoked and inhumane execution,” the letter, published in full by Wicked Local, said. “While this murder did not occur in our state, we recognize that George Floyd is representative of many who have died, slowly or swiftly, due to the abuse of power. The power that is exerted by some police and others, including elected officials, an abuse of power that is supported by the decades and centuries of institutional racism and systemic oppression.”
After making stops in Beverly and Salem, the participants parked their vehicles in the street near Baker’s home. Bennett asked them to lay down in the street and share a moment of silence, according to Wicked Local.
“We have come to have our voices heard. For far too long the Black and brown community has been suffocated by the knee of injustice,” Bennett said, as reported by Wicked Local. “So we brought our voices to the governor’s house. Remember, the power of the people is far greater than the people in power.”
While in front of the governor’s home, Bennett told the group about how he’s been pulled over because of his skin color, noting that for him, driving with an expired inspection sticker meant that he was arrested, according to The Salem News.
“It is very simple,” he told the newspaper after the event. “It’s almost redundant at this point, but the message is: Black and brown lives matter. It matters when someone kneels in the neck of one of my siblings for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, and he says, ‘I can’t breathe.’”
PHOTOS: Rolling rally protest outside Gov. Baker’s homehttps://t.co/8rvTnMifHp #wickedlocalpix #wickedlocal #northofboston #wickedlocalswampscott #rally #rollingrally #NotOneMore pic.twitter.com/X6366DcIJZ
— David Sokol (@DavidSokol3) June 4, 2020
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Roughly 100 people staged a die-in in the street in front of Charlie Baker’s home Wednesday - Boston.com
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