Protesters march through Center City demanding justice for Breonna Taylor
About 100 people gathered first on Independence Mall and then started marching through Center City on the second night of protests after the Breonna Taylor decision.
Protests are stopped at South Street Bridge by Philadelphia Police on the second night of protests after a grand jury's decision in the Breonna Taylor case. (Joe Hernandez/WHYY)
For a second night, demonstrators took to the streets in Philadelphia on Thursday to protest a Kentucky grand jury’s decision not to charge police officers for killing Breonna Taylor.
About 100 people gathered first on Independence Mall and then started marching through Center City.
Around 8 p.m., chanting “Say her name! Breonna Taylor!” they moved onto I-95. Police diverted traffic onto Delaware Avenue as protesters took over the highway.
Protesters now blocking that too pic.twitter.com/0pzeSasuQ4
— Joe Hernandez (@byJoeHernandez) September 24, 2020
— Joe Hernandez (@byJoeHernandez) September 24, 2020
Related Content
‘My heart is heavy’: Philly reacts to lack of charges in Breonna Taylor’s killing
Hundreds of demonstrators chanted Breonna Taylor’s name and marched in cities across the U.S. to express anger and sadness following the grand jury decision.
4 years ago
Dozens of police officers, mostly on bikes, herded the protesters off the highway into Queen Village.
“We’re going through the neighborhoods, the places that sit here and write on their Instagrams and Twitters and Facebooks that we’re thugs and we’re angry and we’re just causing commotion,” said organizer Mikal Woods. “But we went through all those neighborhoods and they clapped in solidarity with us.”
The group then kept marching through neighborhoods. The roving protest was punctuated by tense moments, such as when demonstrators say an officer pushed one of them on South Street near 11th. Protesters chanted “defund the police” for a few minutes, then kept marching.
Tense moment. Protesters say an officer pushed somebody and everybody got defensive. Protesters chanted defund the police for a few minutes then kept marching pic.twitter.com/Mptf3vrYoE
— Joe Hernandez (@byJoeHernandez) September 25, 2020
“I feel like, at the very least, they feel us, they hear us. And now we need to get in our legislature, we need our politicians to hear us more vividly,” said Justin, a recent college graduate living in Fairmount, who would not give his last name, as they proceeded down South Street.
Around 9 p.m., the group approached the South Street Bridge leading into West Philadelphia, to find it blocked by a line of officers with their bikes. The crowd shouted at the officers, but eventually turned back into Center City.
Stopped at South St bridge, police lined up on bikes, protesters still chanting pic.twitter.com/qY9zQMuwS1
— Joe Hernandez (@byJoeHernandez) September 25, 2020
The protest wrapped up around 10 p.m. at City Hall.
Get daily updates from WHYY News!
WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.
Philly’s Driving Equality Act inspires similar policy in Memphis after Tyre Nichols killing
Philadelphia has a law on the books that’s intended to prevent police stops from becoming deadly, but some activists say more accountability is needed.
2 years ago
Listen 1:44
Impassioned calls for police reform at Tyre Nichols’ funeral
The family of Tyre Nichols plans to lay him to rest Wednesday, three weeks after he died following a brutal beating by Memphis police.
2 years ago
The conversation about stop and frisk centers on Black and brown men. What about Black women and co-victims of violence?
2 years ago
