Massive Hollywood protest shows the staying power of the George Floyd movement
LA TimesIf there were any doubts about whether the George Floyd protest movement was slowing, the answer came Sunday as an estimated 20,000 people converged on Hollywood for a huge march and demonstration. “We are not just criminals like they make us out to be.” In the middle of Hollywood Boulevard, a 39-year-old white man who wanted to give only his first name, Benjamin, held a massive sign reading, simply, “Defund.” “The primary function of the police is to protect and defend white property,” he said of why he thought the department’s budget should be slashed. Castillo said Garcetti should dump Moore, who has “proven he is not the right person to take us through this moment.” In Compton, the Compton Cowboys joined a spirited caravan of motorcycles and hundreds of sign-waving demonstrators. The march in Compton stopped at the Martin Luther King Jr. monument outside the city’s Civic Center, where speakers played “Alright” by Compton-born rapper Kendrick Lamar. As the march passed a sheriff’s station, Gary Mumford, 54, of Compton, held up his sign to show them: “8min 46secs Pure Evil.” “I’m not so naive as to think that every single police officer is evil,” he said, “but I do know that when you start covering up and not speaking and being silent, then you’re part of the problem.” California Compton Cowboys join spirited caravan through city to protest police brutality The Compton Cowboys joined a caravan of motorcycles and demonstrators as part of a growing national movement to end police brutality and systemic racism.