Demonstrators took to the streets for a third straight weekend in Cincinnati, though this time, not always at the typical Downtown targets of City Hall and the Hamilton County Courthouse. Marches in protest of police brutality against minorities continued to spread to the Cincinnati suburbs, and often with just as large crowds as their Downtown counterpoints.
On Sunday, in the village of Mariemont, Ohio - with a population of just over 3,400 - WVXU photographer Jason Whitman estimated more than 1,000 people attended a demonstration at the Village Square. As they marched, they chanted, "no justice, no peace; no racist police" and many other familiar protest refrains.
On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators marched the streets of Oakley and Hyde Park. Last weekend, demonstrations were held in West Chester and Madeira.
These Cincinnati neighborhoods are not alone. Suburban areas from from Wenatchee, Wash., to Coatesville, Pa., are also seeing their residents take to the streets.
"I think people are tired," Coatesville's Assistant City Manager James Logan told CBS News. "It's just been boiling for so long and now it's just running over."
Josiah Seurkamp organized Friday's protest in Oakley and Hyde Park. He told WVXU why he chose those two neighborhoods for his march.
"I realize that there's a lot of people in these neighborhood that want change, that aren't given many opportunities to speak up about it and I feel like having a protest in these neighborhoods are going to give those people a voice," the 19-year-old said. "And then show the people that don't understand and don't know there's a problem -- or, are afraid to accept that there's a problem -- that there is an issue and they're going to have to deal with it very soon."
On Sunday in Mariemont, the crowd cheered after speaker Jay Minor took a knee while talking about the Pledge of Allegiance.
Jay Minor speaking as the march comes to a conclusion in Mariemont @917wvxu #GeorgeFloydProtests #cincinnatiprotests pic.twitter.com/glPoto4HaC
— Jason Whitman (@Jason_Whitman) June 14, 2020
"What I'm about to say may startle some people. ... I never pledge allegiance to the flag, because it says 'and liberty and justice for all,' " he said as he fell to his knee. "I don't see it. I don't see it. And if you don't see it, I want you to do these things, because we have difficult days ahead."
