500 Peaceful Protesters March To Petaluma Police Dept.: PHOTOS

PETALUMA, CA — A crowd of around 500 people marched through the streets of Petaluma Saturday holding handmade signs saying "Black Lives Matter," "I Can't Breathe" and "End Police Brutality."

The protesters gathered at Walnut Park in downtown Petaluma, then walked to the Petaluma Police Department in a scene that has played out in cities across the United States after the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white man, knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin pinned Floyd down while arresting him on suspicion of using of a counterfeit $20 bill at a store. Floyd can be heard on video saying "I can't breathe." According to reports, Floyd had no pulse by the time he was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Protests against police brutality and systemic racism against black people began almost immediately in Minneapolis in a movement that has spread to cities across the nation. Early news coverage from Minneapolis showed a police precinct was set on fire. That following weekend, looting and civil unrest took place in nearly a dozen U.S. cities, including in the nearby cities of Santa Rosa, Vallejo, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill and Oakland.

Nighttime curfews were called in some areas, and National Guard troops have responded to some cities to help quell the unrest.

What also took place were peaceful protests, including in the city of Napa.

Saturday, it was Petaluma's turn.

Hundreds of people held up handmade signs and chanted as they marched for blocks and ended up in front of the police station on Petaluma Boulevard North.

Along the way, the group that included many families with children stayed on sidewalks. They appeared to heed all traffic lights and they did not impede traffic. There were no police officers guarding the station, and only a few police cars passed the protesters.

"The protest on Saturday had a peak attendance of about 500 and lasted about two hours," Lt. Ed Crosby told Patch. "There were no arrests, and everything was peaceful all around."