Santa Cruz County Paddle Out Planned In Honor Of George Floyd

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Surfers plan to paddle out in honor of George Floyd at 6 p.m. Sunday, off the shores of Cowell Beach.

The ceremony was one of a handful planned across California in honor of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, who 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.

The paddle out at Cowell's comes after protests in Santa Cruz and Watsonville over the weekend.

The Santa Cruz protest garnered widespread attention after Santa Cruz Police Chief Andy Mills took a knee alongside protesters in a show of solidarity. Mills has previously spoken out against Floyd's killing.

"The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis disturbs me to my core," Mills wrote on his personal website. "This brutal and compassionless behavior is not the profession I joined in 1977. We have to get policing back on track, and that will take a concerted effort of cops with integrity, humility, and a genuine sense of justice."

Hundreds of Watsonville protesters gathered in the city's plaza, The Pajaronian reported.

"It’s been happening so long, this culture of prejudice against people that are black or brown," Zandra Amato of Watsonville told the paper. "Something is not right and it has to change."

Protests in many other cities, while beginning peacefully, have been rife with reports of looting and allegations of excessive force by police. In California, cities including Los Angeles and San Francisco have been put under curfew following widespread property damage.

There have been no reports of such incidents in Santa Cruz County.

Find Surfline's surf forecast for Cowell's here.

Patch editor Nick Garber contributed to this report.

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Our surf community’s Paddle Out for George Floyd has, among other things, inspired others. Thank you!
A post shared by California Mermaid (@californiamermaidphotography) on Jun 1, 2020 at 5:33pm PDT