Peaceful Protest Brings Hundreds To County Courthouse In Warsaw
June 4, 2020 at 1:53 a.m.
Peaceful Protest Brings Hundreds To County Courthouse In Warsaw
By Amanda [email protected]
It was the second protest Maria Medina and Ofelia Rios organized. Their Saturday evening protest in Central Park drew 100. Wednesday’s was organized to hear people’s stories.
Medina began the protest by telling everyone to stay off of the sidewalks and to sit on the lawn, per an agreement she and Rios made with local police, she said.
“I’m so happy to be a part of this community today,” Medina said of the turnout. “I don’t want to see any one person in my community become the next hashtag.”
The crowd heard stories from people of color, including Latinos, African Americans and biracial ethnicities.
“When you look like me, you’re raised to be quiet because it’s safer that way,” Gabrielle Cretcher, who is 23 years old and biracial, said. “I can’t sit back as people who look like me are beat down. I’m scared for myself and I’m scared for the people who look like me and who I look like.”
Medina read a story a black man sent to her where he said he remembers when the Civil Rights topic in school would come up that other students would look at him.
Breon Jones, 32, is a black man who lives in Warsaw but attended one of Fort Wayne’s weekend protests and got arrested.
He told the crowd how he spent two days in the Allen County Jail and that when he asked for a mask, the staff “fake coughed and then laughed at me.”
“That was my first time that I experienced it, and it sucks,” he said.
Elgin Smiley, 30, is a black man who attended Warsaw’s Saturday protest where attendees laid down for nine minutes – the amount of time Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck.
On Wednesday, Minneapolis Attorney General Keith Ellison added a charge of second-degree murder in addition to the charge of third-degree murder against Chauvin and charged the three other former officers who were involved in the arrest with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Those officers are Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane. All four of them were fired following the incident.
“What really stuck out to me was the last time we did it, we laid down for nine minutes,” Smiley said. “And five minutes into it I was like, ‘Man, this is a long time.’”
Other stories included testimonies about what it’s like going to school as a person of color. Alyssa Lowe and her young daughter Kyra told a story about a classmate of Kyra’s who was black.
“I had a black friend and some white kid said I don’t like your skin color and she told me and she said she wanted to be white, and I told her you’re amazing just the way you are,” Kyra told the crowd, to applause and shouts of praise.
Sara McNeal Strahan-Lenfestey recalled when she was a young girl riding the school bus and no one else looked like her. She is black and gave her age by saying she “attended the old, old Lincoln Elementary School.”
“It was very challenging,” she said. “Today, I say wow. Warsaw has tremendously changed over the course of several years, and I’m so proud to see it.”
Melonie Williams is a 33-year-old black woman who moved to Warsaw from Detroit, Mich., in 2014, and said she and her son were walking down the street one day when a woman driving by yelled out and called her the “N” word.
“I had to explain to my son why this woman yelled out n***** to me. I had to explain to him why she called me that. I?said there’s no reason she called me that,” Williams said.
Walter Johnson, a black associate pastor at the New Beginnings Community Church in Atwood, said he’s glad the video of Floyd’s death has touched people of all races, not just black folks.
“Black Lives Matter means all lives matter,” Johnson said.
Other stories included hearing people talk about traffic stops they felt were due to racial profiling.
Dukes spoke at the end to the crowd and said he supports the peaceful protest and law enforcement stands with them.
“This is how you get things done,” Dukes told the protesters. “Law enforcement, we support this. I made the decision to come out and thank you for doing it peaceful.”
Dukes then said that he, along with Warsaw Police Department Chief Scott Whitaker, Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer and Medina and Rios all met Wednesday morning for two hours to talk about things.
“It was very, very positive,” Dukes said of the conversation that ranged from rumors to steps moving forward that include future meetings with community leaders to discuss the positive and the negative things going on the county.
“We all agreed that law enforcement and the Hispanic communities, we need to bridge that gap. Law enforcement and the African American community, we need to bridge that gap,” Dukes said to cheers. “You have to have the next step. Thank you for caring, because if it wasn’t for you two, this doesn’t happen,” Dukes told Rios and Medina. “We are a team.”
Thallemer said in a statement about Wednesday’s meeting: “We assured them that we agreed these actions were unwarranted and yet another example of racial bias. We also assured them that their opinions are important, and like everyone, they have the right to express their concerns in a lawful manner. We have a rich history of our country being a destination from all over the world, our communities reflect that. We are proud of the rich diversity of our community.”
Medina handed out 46 white carnations to the speakers to symbolize the 46 years of life Floyd lived. There was one black carnation to represent a life gone too soon.
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It was the second protest Maria Medina and Ofelia Rios organized. Their Saturday evening protest in Central Park drew 100. Wednesday’s was organized to hear people’s stories.
Medina began the protest by telling everyone to stay off of the sidewalks and to sit on the lawn, per an agreement she and Rios made with local police, she said.
“I’m so happy to be a part of this community today,” Medina said of the turnout. “I don’t want to see any one person in my community become the next hashtag.”
The crowd heard stories from people of color, including Latinos, African Americans and biracial ethnicities.
“When you look like me, you’re raised to be quiet because it’s safer that way,” Gabrielle Cretcher, who is 23 years old and biracial, said. “I can’t sit back as people who look like me are beat down. I’m scared for myself and I’m scared for the people who look like me and who I look like.”
Medina read a story a black man sent to her where he said he remembers when the Civil Rights topic in school would come up that other students would look at him.
Breon Jones, 32, is a black man who lives in Warsaw but attended one of Fort Wayne’s weekend protests and got arrested.
He told the crowd how he spent two days in the Allen County Jail and that when he asked for a mask, the staff “fake coughed and then laughed at me.”
“That was my first time that I experienced it, and it sucks,” he said.
Elgin Smiley, 30, is a black man who attended Warsaw’s Saturday protest where attendees laid down for nine minutes – the amount of time Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck.
On Wednesday, Minneapolis Attorney General Keith Ellison added a charge of second-degree murder in addition to the charge of third-degree murder against Chauvin and charged the three other former officers who were involved in the arrest with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Those officers are Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane. All four of them were fired following the incident.
“What really stuck out to me was the last time we did it, we laid down for nine minutes,” Smiley said. “And five minutes into it I was like, ‘Man, this is a long time.’”
Other stories included testimonies about what it’s like going to school as a person of color. Alyssa Lowe and her young daughter Kyra told a story about a classmate of Kyra’s who was black.
“I had a black friend and some white kid said I don’t like your skin color and she told me and she said she wanted to be white, and I told her you’re amazing just the way you are,” Kyra told the crowd, to applause and shouts of praise.
Sara McNeal Strahan-Lenfestey recalled when she was a young girl riding the school bus and no one else looked like her. She is black and gave her age by saying she “attended the old, old Lincoln Elementary School.”
“It was very challenging,” she said. “Today, I say wow. Warsaw has tremendously changed over the course of several years, and I’m so proud to see it.”
Melonie Williams is a 33-year-old black woman who moved to Warsaw from Detroit, Mich., in 2014, and said she and her son were walking down the street one day when a woman driving by yelled out and called her the “N” word.
“I had to explain to my son why this woman yelled out n***** to me. I had to explain to him why she called me that. I?said there’s no reason she called me that,” Williams said.
Walter Johnson, a black associate pastor at the New Beginnings Community Church in Atwood, said he’s glad the video of Floyd’s death has touched people of all races, not just black folks.
“Black Lives Matter means all lives matter,” Johnson said.
Other stories included hearing people talk about traffic stops they felt were due to racial profiling.
Dukes spoke at the end to the crowd and said he supports the peaceful protest and law enforcement stands with them.
“This is how you get things done,” Dukes told the protesters. “Law enforcement, we support this. I made the decision to come out and thank you for doing it peaceful.”
Dukes then said that he, along with Warsaw Police Department Chief Scott Whitaker, Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer and Medina and Rios all met Wednesday morning for two hours to talk about things.
“It was very, very positive,” Dukes said of the conversation that ranged from rumors to steps moving forward that include future meetings with community leaders to discuss the positive and the negative things going on the county.
“We all agreed that law enforcement and the Hispanic communities, we need to bridge that gap. Law enforcement and the African American community, we need to bridge that gap,” Dukes said to cheers. “You have to have the next step. Thank you for caring, because if it wasn’t for you two, this doesn’t happen,” Dukes told Rios and Medina. “We are a team.”
Thallemer said in a statement about Wednesday’s meeting: “We assured them that we agreed these actions were unwarranted and yet another example of racial bias. We also assured them that their opinions are important, and like everyone, they have the right to express their concerns in a lawful manner. We have a rich history of our country being a destination from all over the world, our communities reflect that. We are proud of the rich diversity of our community.”
Medina handed out 46 white carnations to the speakers to symbolize the 46 years of life Floyd lived. There was one black carnation to represent a life gone too soon.
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