George Floyd Protesters March On Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Peaceful protesters snaked through the streets of Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights, their voices united against the killing of George Floyd and police brutality.

"George Floyd."

"Whose streets? Our streets."

"No justice, no peace, no racist police."

Those were the chants Monday afternoon as thousands of protesters gathered at Fulton Street and Nostrand Avenue, an intersection every Bed-Stuy resident knows.

The gathering continued days of protests that have gripped Brooklyn, New York and the nation following the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd after a police officer — who has been charged with murder — knelt on Floyd's neck.

Many of those protests turned violent — police in New York City have pepper sprayed, beat and otherwise abused protesters, while some rally goers have broken windows and set fires.

But any fear the Monday demonstration would descend into a chaos ended when a woman with a raspy voice — one of The December 12 Movement, a Bed-Stuy group that organization the protest — took a megaphone at Restoration Plaza and got the crowd united in one chant from Marcy to Nostrand avenue: "Defund the police."

The woman told the crowd that being organized will help the movement. One of her fellow organizers on the steps of Restoration Plaza wearing a Malcolm X shirt and flanked by Pan-African flags said they wanted to "wake up Bed-Stuy" and beyond.

"We know it's not about one cop, and it ain't about three," he said, referring to arrest of Officer Derek Chauvin — who knelt on Floyd's neck — and three other Minneapolis police who stood by and watched.

The man led "Black Power" cries echoed by white and black crowd members alike. One of many signs in the crowd stated "All Lives Can't Matter Until Black Lives Matter."

A vanguard of Pan-African flags encircled the protest leaders as they walked away from Restoration Plaza and led demonstrators back down Fulton Street.

Jay, a black demonstrator who preferred not to be fully identified, walked with the crowd, clad in a "America Was Never Great" hat. He lives in Bed-Stuy and said he loved seeing protesters walking down his streets.

Black people are tired, he said — tired of longstanding racism, tired of coronavirus. George Floyd's killing was a culmination, he said.

"I think it's important for people to come together," he said. "We will not tolerate police murdering black and brown people."

The protesters turned down Nostrand Avenue, walked across Atlantic Avenue and turned down tree-lined Dean Street. People cheered from their windows, stoops and fences.

Kyisha Brooks, who lives along where the march turned down Schenectady Avenue, watched the protesters with her three young children.

It's good for them to see the protest even if it's hard to understand, she said. They're still young — 3, 5 and 6 — but it opens the door to discussions about being black, she said.

"I think it's important to have a peaceful sit down with kids because they're going to be the most affected," she said.

The march ended in front of the NYPD 77th Precinct in Crown Heights. Officers in riot gear stood in front of the Utica Avenue station, prepared for the worst.

But the worst didn't come from protesters. They chanted peacefully, directing a collective message against the police: "No justice, no peace."

Then they left, heading back toward Restoration Plaza, where thousands massed again.

It was one of several large groups of protesters who marched across Brooklyn, all peacefully as of Monday at about 9 a.m. — from McCarren Park, to Barclays Center, to Grand Army Plaza.

Many on social media noted it remained peaceful so long as NYPD kept their presence unseen or hands off.

It remained to be seen as of this writing if an 11 p.m. curfew imposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo after looting in Manhattan over the weekend would lead to confrontations with police — or if an announcement by President Donald Trump would stoke tensions after he said he would use the military to stop unrest if American cities and states did not get protests under control.