Following the example of cities across the nation, hundreds of people attended two days of peaceful protest in support of Black Lives Matter at the Collier County Courthouse in Naples, Florida.
The protests were sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. From Washington DC to Los Angeles, scores of protesters have been arrested in the last few days, stores have been looted and several people have been injured in the last few days.
In Naples, the first protest began around 5 p.m. on Monday, with protestors kneeling in front of Building L on the courthouse campus. They sat and stood around holding signs displaying the names of black people who have lost their lives to police brutality as well as advocacy organizations including Black Lives Matter and Justice for George Floyd.
About two hours into the demonstration, protestors began to march west on Tamiami Trail East towards downtown Naples, which is home to Naples’s most expensive and high-end restaurants and stores.
Day two of the protests followed a similar pattern, with marchers making their way toward downtown Naples again. This time, however, protestors were blocked off by a wall of police, many of whom were in riot gear. Protestors then made their way down Davis Boulevard before briefly stopping at the intersection of Davis Boulevard and Airport-Pulling Road. Cops directed them to walk further down Airport-Pulling Road back towards the courthouse.
Then some police officers arrived in military gear, barricaded themselves behind clear shields. A group of protestors stood in front of the officers, loudly describing their fears and concerns about black loved ones. Thre was no serious confrontation, though.
Four men have been arrested so far in relation to the protests. Video of one of those arrests shows a Naples police officer pushing a protestor out of the way, knocking her head onto the ground. Instagram user @danykyng, one of the men arrested, documented his experience with Naples police.
Questioned about that arrest, Collier County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Karie Partington issued the following statement.
“Deputies were in the process of arresting two subjects for disorderly conduct during the protest. While they were making the arrests, there were other deputies who were providing coverage to ensure the protesters didn’t interfere.
One protester darted from the crowd and ran toward the deputies while they were making the arrests. A coverage deputy stepped forward and lowered his shoulder in an attempt to prevent the protester from running any further into an arrest situation. The protester ran into the coverage deputy’s shoulder, bounced back and went to the ground where she was quickly scooped up and ushered away by other protesters. At no time did the deputy put his hands on her.
At the same time this was happening there was another protester who was throwing water bottles at the deputies while they were trying to make the arrests. Deputies were also focused on trying to identify the bottle thrower while trying to make the arrests and provide coverage.”
Responded Instagram user @danykyng: “It’s evident that we were being punished by a petty white supremacist system, without cause and definitely without reason.”