YEAR IN PHOTOS: Bergen, Passaic County Protest In A Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic and national protests after the death of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd will, unquestionably, define 2020 for years to come.

In North Jersey, those two moments were felt intimately, and at the same time. During the first half of the year, Bergen County was the epicenter of the pandemic.

But that didn't stop demonstrators from, usually, donning a mask and stepping into the streets during the summer months to protest not only Floyd and Taylor, but others from their hometowns who died during interactions with police.

In Teaneck, Phillip Pannell was remembered with signs, speeches and chants. In Paterson, the same was true for Jameek Lowery.

From the protests came a collection of anti-racist activist groups, including in Teaneck, Wayne Township, Ridgewood and beyond. Those groups often came together for continued protests throughout the fall and winter, with protests continuing at Hackensack's Bergen County Jail in support of ICE detainees.

Scenes from three of these protests — Paterson on Tuesday, June 2, Teaneck on Friday, June 5 and Hackensack on Sunday, Dec. 6 — are collected below.

Paterson

Gathered on the steps of the free public library in Paterson, organizers and residents spoke out against police violence in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

Zellie Thomas and then US Senate candidate Lawrence Hamm headlined a group of inspired speakers as hundreds gathered in the intersection of Broadway and Auburn.

"You are joining people all over the country who have said enough is enough," said Hamm to the crowd, who held signs are participated in multiple chants.

Thomas, who was present for some protests in Minneapolis, led an eight-minute kneel, honoring the 8 minutes and 46 seconds Derek Chauvin kneeled on the neck of George Floyd.

Both Thomas and Hamm addressed the killing of Floyd, and the death of Jameek Lowery, who died in 2019 after he livestreamed an encounter with police in which he asked for water, and for officers not to shoot him. He died at St. Joeseph's Regional Medical Center two days later.

The people of Teaneck gathered on Friday, June 5 to protest the death of George Floyd. In doing so, they remembered one of their own.

The family of Phillip Pannell spoke during the protest, including his mother Thelma Dantzler and sister Natacha Pannell. Pannell, a black 16-year-old, was shot by white officer Gary Spath in 1990, which lead to Teaneck's 1990 riots.

Dantzler spoke about her son's death, in which the officer was acquitted of manslaughter, and related it to the death of Floyd and others across the country.

Teaneck organizers — BLMxTeaneck — have since become ingrained in the activist community across New Jersey, both organizing marches and supporting other groups in their efforts.

Hackensack

Nearly 100 demonstrators gathered outside the Bergen County Jail on a cold Sunday in Hackensack, armed with megaphones, signs and plenty of support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees inside the jail's walls.

Those detainees, at the time these photos were taken, had been on hunger strike for over 20 days, with protesters gathering in support of their strike for weeks.

The following weekend, protests hit a fever pitch when police and protesters clashed on consecutive nights, resulting in multiple arrests of the course of the weekend.