SPOKANE, Wash — A memorial was held at the Clock Tower in Riverfront Park Tuesday night to mourn the life of George Floyd, who was killed one year ago by a Minnesota police officer.
Nearly 80 activists attended a peaceful rally to remember the life of George Floyd and urge for police reform. The event was organized by Mutual Aid Survival Squad (M.A.S.S.) Spokane, but activists from other human rights groups attended. Sitting on the Spokane Human Rights Commission, Anwar Peace has been a police accountability activist for more than twenty years. He attended every Black Lives Matter rally, protest and event that he could over the last year.
"The Spokane community last year rose up in the George Floyd uprising, because we all saw that it all affected us in some way, shape or form," Peace said to the audience. "It made us want to come out in protest. It made us want to be more vocal about policing reform."
Floyd died on May 25, 2020 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes, while Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. His death sparked months of nationwide protests focused on racism and a renewed debate over police reform in the U.S. Chauvin was convicted last month on multiple charges stemming from Floyd’s death.
Despite dozens of local protests, no tangible change can be seen in the city, according to Peace.
"Most jurisdictions in the United States that dealt with the George Floyd uprisings have either passed some kind of police reform, as well as they've done an after action with or dealing with the George Floyd protests," he added. "Both of those things have not taken place in Spokane. So, we are a year into this, and we're a year behind."
This is disappointing to Peace and other activists at the rally.
"There was so much momentum on the streets and the community in general, [people that] wanted some positive changes," he said. "Right now, the community hasn't seen it so far."
Peace cited SPD Chief Craig Meidl and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich as not being agents of change and helping the community come together, since he doesn't see them trying to work with the BIPOC citizens.
"It's time for the Spokane Police Department to get off of all of our necks," he said.
Activists kneeled for nine minutes. Those nine minutes of silence were for the nine minutes Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck, murdering him. Peace spoke at the rally, sharing that he believes police reform is necessary and essential for the community to unify.
Floyd's death sparked a global reckoning over racism and growing calls for police reform, but a legislative response has been elusive. Still, congressional negotiators remain optimistic about the prospects for a bill and they’ve displayed a steady solidarity that’s unusual for such talks, striking a consistently optimistic tone and never publicly sniping at each other.
