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'How do we become anti-racist': Hundreds show up for Jacob Blake march in Spokane

The event was for Jacob Blake, a man shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last week.

SPOKANE, Wash. — There was nothing new in terms of what people were protesting for on Sunday.

Protesters said their message boils down to this: Black Lives Matter and they’re tired of seeing unjustified violence.

“It’s really frustrating when we open the news or look at our social media feeds and see somebody else shot in the back,” said protest organizer Dustin Jolly.

The shooting of Jacob Blake renewed outrage over police shootings of Black people that characterized this summer.

Since Jacob Blake was shot several times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, protests have sprung up nationwide. On Sunday, it was Spokane's turn. Hundreds of people came out to march through downtown Spokane, calling for justice and an end to police brutality.

“This isn’t about not being a racist,” said Natasha Hill, a Spokane attorney.

 “It’s about how do we become anti-racist. We don’t get to have equality without equity and how do we do equity for people that have been disenfranchised, who’ve been systematically oppressed, who’ve been arrested disproportionately and charged with crimes and over prosecuted," she added. 

For more than three hours, marchers flooded the streets of Spokane. They first stopped at the Red Wagon before marching across the Monroe Street Bridge and then ending their protest at the city hall.

Several speakers addressed the crowd about why they were upset.

“Nobody is an angel in any perspective, but everybody deserves equal and adequate access under the law,” Jolly said to the crowd. “Especially dealing with law enforcement.”

Although Wisconsin is over 1,000 miles away from Spokane, organizers believe some of the same issues with policing occur in the city.

Organizers said their goal is to fund underrepresented communities for things like better education resources and mental health awareness.

“Invest in the divested,” Hill said. “It really makes sense and it doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be law enforcement to investigate crimes. We know law enforcement is not going to stop criminal activity and over-policing black and brown bodies are not going to make our community safer.”

Organizers said they're tired of marching for the same things, but still, they plan to keep protesting.

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