Livermore Protesters Decry Racial Injustice Thursday

LIVERMORE, CA — Hundreds of protesters gathered in Livermore's Carnegie Park Thursday calling for change after George Floyd's death.

Protesters created signs that read, "We cannot stay silent about things that actually matter," "No justice, no peace," "We want change," "We comply and we still die," and "It's not about police brutality, it's about murder."

The protest snarled traffic and caused some roads to be blocked, but roads were reopened late in the afternoon, Livermore police said. Officers previously said they had been in touch with the organizers and expected a peaceful demonstration.

The protest took place in spite of triple-digit heat that settled in Thursday afternoon as a heat wave passed through the Bay Area.

The demonstrations in Tri-Valley, the Bay Area and across the country come a week after Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white man, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Chauvin pinned Floyd down after arresting him following a call reporting his suspected use of a counterfeit bill at a store. Floyd said he could not breathe during the encounter and had no pulse when he was taken into an ambulance.

All four officers at the scene were fired. On Wednesday Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder and the other three officers on scene — Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane — were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.

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