WILTON MANORS, FLA. (WSVN) - Dozens of demonstrators are making their voices heard in a peaceful march that has taken them across parts of Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors, including a stop at a police station, as they call for justice in the death of George Floyd and equality for black Americans.
7News cameras captured protesters as they walked south along Northeast Fourth Avenue, past Fort Lauderdale High School, at around 6 p.m. Monday.
“We all want safety in our communities, but we all know that police officers have been proven that they can’t do that and no longer provide that,” said Tifanny Burks, a community organizer with Black Lives Matter.
“I have to be told that like, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t act this way around the police, because they might arrest you or they might kill you,'” said organizer Jeffrey Georges. “Why do people have to do that? Why do I have to be worried about someone who’s supposed to protect me shooting me and killing me?”
The march might have looked like several others that have taken place in South Florida over the past two weeks, but organizers said they had a specific purpose in mind. Their focus was on changing the way neighborhoods are policed.
“We want community-led measures, that have been proven to be safe, to actually provide safety for our communities,” said Burks.
Protesters met at Holiday Park at around 3 p.m., and from there they marched peacefully while chanting and holding up signs.
“Which streets? Our streets!” chanted demonstrators.
At around 5 p.m, protesters stopped at the entrance to the Wilton Manors Police Station, located at 2020 Wilton Drive, where some participants spoke to the group about their reasons for taking part in the march and revealed personal experiences with police.
These protesters joined a growing chorus across the country to defund law enforcement agencies, which has become a rallying cry in more recent protests.
Organizers of the march said they want some money used for policing to be shifted to social services.
It’s a move advocated by city leaders in Minneapolis, where four officers are now facing charges in Floyd’s death.
Nine out of 12 Minneapolis City Council members voted to defund their police department.
“Right now, they passed ‘defund the police’ legislation in Minneapolis. They’ve done it in [Los Angeles],” said Burke. “We’re firm in our belief that it can happen in Broward County.”
Outside the Wilton Manors Police Station, protesters also talked about the people who, they said, fuel their passions.
“Tamir Rice, he was holding a toy gun. Trayvin Martin, you were wearing a hoodie. I didn’t think that was breaking the rules,” said a protester as she held up a sign with their names.
“I think that it’s important for every white person to stand up for the black community,” said protester Rick Ferrazzano. “As a father, I’ve got two children, and I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a black parent in this country today. It’s insane.”
Protesters said that what they mean when they call for defunding the police is to replace it with a more community-based project. Their ultimate goal is a complete overhaul of the traditional police model.
“I think it needs to be done. I think a conversation needs to be done to defund the police and start putting it back into the community,” said Ferrazzano, “especially education, because right now we live in a country where it’s a school-to-prison pipeline, and it’s got to stop.”
Several Wilton Manors Police officers monitored the gathering from a distance and made sure that the roadway was closed.
The protesters later made their way back to Holiday Park.
Organizers said they hope to be able to bring up the idea of defunding or reducing funding to police departments, and redirecting it elsewhere, with city officials in Fort Lauderdale later this month.
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