It didn’t start with George Floyd. But those rallying against systemic racism and injustice jammed the streets of Port Townsend Friday in what some hoped marks the beginning of the end.
It was the fifth rally in the past week in town following the death of Floyd, 46, who was killed by police in Minneapolis on
May 25, and whose death has sparked two weeks of protests across the country and around the globe.
It was also the largest; the mammoth mass of people — estimated by some to number at least 300 — stopped traffic as it slowly surged from its start near the Port Townsend Police Station to its finally rallying point near Safeway.
The massive rally was organized on social media by Rosemary Crecca, a 15-year-old ninth-grader at Port Townsend High School.
She said she put the call out on Instagram: “Does anyone want to be in a group chat? We can plan a protest in Port Townsend.”
The idea found an eager audience, and the protest quickly came together with the help of other freshmen, sophomore and junior students from Port Townsend High.
“We just felt like we still needed to do something; even though our community is small, we want to fight for the kind of world we want in our future,” Rosemary said.
“I think that youth action is really important,” added fellow organizer Matia S-Reimnitz, a ninth-grade PTHS and OCEAN student.
“I’m a big believer in we can make our own future. All the injustice I have been seeing in the news is really overwhelming and horrible, and I just wanted to collaborate with fellow youth with those opinions,” she said. “And make a protest that could hopefully make some difference.”
“This is the perfect time to start protesting, I think,” Matia said.
Rosemary met with Port Townsend Police Chief Troy Surber just before the march got underway.
“It’s going to be a good day; it’s going to be a great day. And you’ve got a great community,” Surber told her.
“I’m glad you’re all here,” he added.
Rosemary said organizers had talked to police earlier about their plans for a peaceful protest.
Immediately before the march across town, she grabbed a bullhorn and asked demonstrators to make sure things didn’t get out of hand. Rosemary noted that rumors had been spreading that so-called “anti-Antifa” protesters planned to attend the rally for justice.
“We fully intend to keep everything really peaceful,” Rosemary said.
“Don’t engage. We want to keep everything peaceful, safe,” she said.
The message, she stressed, was a generational call for change.
“For every day of news, we don’t see another person of color murdered,” she said, and someone in the growing crowd shouted “Amen!” in response.
“We don’t want to be scared at school because we can’t trust we are safe,” she added.
“Our generation wants change. We want to live in an America where when we pledge for freedom and justice for all, we are not lying. We must stand together as a community to work for the future we need; a future where Black men and women are not murdered because of their skin color, because they’re perceived as a threat,” Rosemary said.
She asked those gathered outside the police station to take a knee for a few moments of silence to remember those who have been victims of violence, and their families, friends, and communities.
“Breonna Taylor — today would have been her birthday,” Rosemary said, noting the name of the 26-year-old African-American EMT who was shot and killed in March by Louisville Metro Police Department officers.
“Sean Reed, Tony McDade, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd. These are only a few names,” she added. “The only way to fight racism is to call it out, to confront it. And to say their names.”
HUNDREDS TAKE PART
The crowd grew as marchers made their way down Blaine Street, then Kearney Street to Sims Way.
They stopped at the Haines Place intersection near Safeway, where the crowd, four people thick in some spots, lined the road and raised signs to a chorus of honking horns from passing drivers: “How Many More Black Lives? NO More,” “End Police Brutality,” “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks,” and “Rest in Power George Floyd.” A large number hoisted ones with the phrase “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice
No Peace.”
Bruce Cowan, chairman of the 24th Legislative District Democrats, said the gathering was the third protest in the past week he had attended.
“And this is by far the largest,” Cowan said. “We go to a lot of demonstrations, and this might be the biggest we’ve seen. It’s at least three times bigger than an ordinary demonstration.”
“The demonstrations going on across the country are very important in changing our culture,” he added. “Police violence is really an indication of systemic racism that has been persistent through my life — and I’m a Baby Boomer.”
Cowan recalled the Kerner Commission report, the result of a presidential commission that examined the race riots of 1967, and its finding that institutional racism and poverty were the causes of that long, hot summer of violence.
“The same problems are here and now. It’s about housing, employment, all sorts of racial inequities in our society,” Cowan said. “Those have not really changed dramatically. And the income disparity that we have laid on top of it for everybody is making life harder.”
He praised the teens for taking action in the wake of Floyd’s death.
“This was organized by youth. Word got out. There are families here, multi-generational, sometimes three generations together. Babies. Young people who just crave justice in our society,” he said. “Fairness is one of our core values, and we haven’t been living up to it.”
“Getting out in the street and raising awareness is important. It could be a turning point or tipping point in our culture. We have to commit with concrete steps,” Cowan said.
On the other side of Haines Place, at the edge of the grocery store parking lot, Merilee Nyland of
Port Townsend stood explaining the scene to her 7-year-old daughter.
“What they are saying: ‘Silence is violence.’ And knowing if we don’t agree with it, we have to get out and at least show our support, or our outrage,” Nyland said.
The questions kept coming from the little girl. Why were they there if we have to stay home because of the virus? Why are people lying down in the street?
“We keep explaining it at different levels. She wanted to know why this is going on, why they laid down. That sometimes it takes a really, really bad thing to happen in order for people to organize and get up and out of their houses and say, ‘This isn’t OK,’” Nyland recounted her conversation.
“This is a great turnout, especially with coronavirus,” she added. “It’s really important right now that we wear our masks and we stay away from people, but it’s also very important right now that we gather and protest. So it’s sort of saying those two opposing rights, right now.”
Protesting during a pandemic was a big decision.
“We decided that it was more important that we get out. Explaining all this to a 7-year-old is big task. She gets it, though,” added Nyland, a Port Townsend resident.
At one point in the rally, about 50 from the crowd converged in the center of the intersection, then dropped to their knees or lay on their stomache, with their hands behind their backs as if they were handcuffed.
Waiting drivers did not appear annoyed, but hit their car horns in support or raised their cell phones to take pictures.
The protesters eventually moved back to the sidewalks and the rally continued.
“I’m trying to help break the cycle of silence and complacency,” said Pauly Creep-O, a musician who moved to Port Townsend from Oklahoma a year ago.
“Especially as a straight white male, I think it’s imperative that everyone stand up and unify because we are all that we have. And I’m trying to do my part to set an example. So people who look like me can do the right thing and come forward and not be silent or complacent.”
Nina, who declined to give her surname, said police brutality is fueled by officers who have immunity from prosecution.
“There been so much injustice for generations. It’s not even just about George Floyd. And it’s not just about the police officers who killed George Floyd,” she said.
“This keeps happing. And the system facilitates it,” Nina added.
“The system enables the police to not be held accountable. I do believe that there are good officers out there. But because they are not doing enough to hold their own accountable, it gets messy.
“And Black lives matter. And all lives matter when Black lives matter,” she added.
LIMITED POLICE PRESENCE
Surber said the department was made aware of the rally beforehand and he and one other officer were invited to attend and walk with the protesters.
“We were honored to be invited to walk,” he said.
Surber said the only police present at the demonstration were the ones invited by the organizers.
He said the police department collaborated with the Washington State Patrol to mitigate any impacts the protesters might have on traffic.
In the past, protests in Port Townsend have always been largely peaceful, he said, and this was no different.
A ROLLING RALLY
The next day, even as rain poured down, nearly
100 people gathered outside of Don’s Pharmacy in downtown Port Townsend for another rally — this time, on bikes.
The event was sparked by the worldwide protests, but also inspired by a local incident that occurred May 29.
Isaac Brown was riding his bicycle downtown
when a driver in a red truck allegedly ran him off the road.
“I went up and over the handlebars,” Brown said.
He still has the scratches on his elbow from the crash and was wearing a wrist brace.
Several witnesses saw the event and witnessed the driver use a racial slur toward Brown, who is Black.
Brown, who has only lived on the Olympic Peninsula for a short time, was afraid to call the police at first.
“I was scared to call the police department,” he said. “You just never know.”
Interim police chief Troy Surber said the police department is looking to charge the driver with negligent driving in the second degree with a recommendation for a driver’s license re-examination.
Taylor Austin, a
Port Townsend resident, wanted to raise awareness of the issue, which is why she organized a bike rally.
“Let’s get together and ride in solidarity,” she posted on social media leading up to the rally.
The rally commenced in a downpour with nine minutes of silence in remembrance of Floyd. Then, cyclists made their way down Water Street, up Monroe and back down Lawrence Street in a circle.
“It feels awesome to have support from the community,” Brown said.
LEADERS SPEAK OUT
Elected officials from across the county and region added their voices in the call for justice over past week.
The topic came up during the Port Townsend City Council’s meeting last Monday, as well.
“We are living in a very difficult time in this country, and we join those that call the name of Mr. George Floyd in sorrow and in anger against systemic racism that pervades our land,” said
Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval. “We stand in solidarity with African-Americans and all people of color.”
“We call on this government, including the police department, to work with businesses and civil society alike to address racism. We have very much work to do,” she said.
She also noted native people’s connection to the place now called Port Townsend, and said city hall stands where Chinatown once burned to the ground.
Like others, her heart had been broken by Floyd’s death, she said.
“We all watched an unconscionable act by someone who was sworn to protect and serve. We all know this isn’t an isolated incident. There are hundreds more men and women who have suffered because our country has refused to acknowledge systemic racism.
“And I ask this community, while not ethnically diverse, to do all it can to check our hearts and actions to be sure that we treat our fellow humans with the dignity and the grace that each soul deserves,” Sandoval said.
CHAIRWOMAN WEIGHS IN
At last week’s meeting of the Port Townsend School Board, Chairwoman Jennifer James-Wilson said she had been following the news coverage of the protests, but has remained hopeful.
“I’ve had a hard time thinking these days. There’s so much to kind of take in, that finding words to really put to this time has been kind of discouraging to me,” James-Wilson said. “It’s been kind of overwhelming. It’s been both really rich and really, really, really troubling.”
She shared a quote from famed activist Gloria Steinem that was made on social media after Floyd’s murder: “Remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for restoration of the social order and for the healing of individual victims.”
“I think it speaks to me as an individual and also as an elected official on a school board,” James-Wilson said. “And in thinking about the role of schools in this time and the place where the greatest number of our community’s children are gathered, I think that schools are really one of the most important places to have authentic and reliable truth-telling about the terrible things that happen.
The police chief shared a statement on the death of Floyd during the county commissioners’ meeting.
Surber said: “The Port Townsend Police Department extends its heartfelt condolences to the Floyd family for their tragic loss. The actions taken by the Minneapolis officers that led to the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd have deeply affected our department and horrified our community.
“Many in our small town and in towns and cities throughout the nation are suffering in these already difficult and uncertain times. This is a time when we who serve must redouble our efforts to build and sustain the public’s trust.
“We want each and every person in Port Townsend and Jefferson County – regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or national origin to be included and to know that everyone’s safety is important. As public servants, our actions must always reflect this.
“In the days ahead, please know that we at the Port Townsend Police Department will be doing everything in our power to make Port Townsend a community that welcomes diversity, protects the most vulnerable among us, and where all are equal before the law. Our department is committed to being of help and service – and accountable – to those that live and visit our community,” he said.
Leader reporter Carmen Jaramillo contributed to this story.
