Demonstrators took to the streets of Glendale Sunday to protest police violence and demand reform, and to hold a candlelight vigil in honor of victims of racial injustice.
The protest began around 3 p.m. at Doran Gardens Mini-Park. Marchers walked down Brand Boulevard and made their way to Perkins Plaza at Glendale City Hall, chanting, “No justice, no peace.” There, community members and faith leaders addressed a crowd of more than 1,000 people, officials said.
“Black lives do matter… It’s great to see people from different nationalities, cultures coming together,” Michael Easley, who participated in the demonstration, told KTLA. “You can tell this is the new America. America feels like ‘enough is enough.'”
Members of the Armenian National Committee of America passed out water bottles and snacks to those marching.
“We are against racial injustice and condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” said Verginie Touloumian, community outreach director of the advocacy group. “We stand and join those from around the nation seeking justice.”
The vigil that followed the march honored George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, and all those who have fallen victim to racial injustice.
“Our hope is to provide a space for reflection, comfort, and healing,” organizers wrote on social media. The event was organized by students from Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School, according to the Daily Breeze, and sponsors included Black in Glendale and YWCA Glendale.
Flyers for the event noted that protesters would avoid The Americana at Brand and the Glendale Galleria in order the preserve the safety of local businesses.
No arrests were made in relation to the protest, according to Sgt. Christian Hauptmann of the Glendale Police Department.
“It was very peaceful. They did exactly what they said they were going to do,” he said. “No one caused any problems.”
Organizers urged participants to practice social distancing and to wear facial coverings as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage, with 1,059 positive cases in Glendale as of Sunday and 94 deaths, according to county data.
Another vigil in Compton honored victims of police violence, including 31-year-old Donta Taylor, who was fatally shot by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies on Aug. 25, 2016.
Taylor was shot to death after deputies said he pointed a gun at them, although no gun was found, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time of a $7 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the county by Taylor’s family.
“He’re we are now, four years later. We see more of this happening, and finally it gets the recogition that it needs to get,” Taylor’s father, Andrew Taylor said.
