'Mama!': Protest Stops Traffic On Rt. 58 For Almost 9 Minutes

RIVERHEAD, NY — A crowd lay down and knelt on Rt. 58 in Riverhead Saturday, stopping traffic for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time that George Floyd lay dying in Minneapolis. In a moment of unprecedented and haunting silence on the normally busy roadway, protesters cried out, "Mama!" and "I can't breathe."

The protest was one of three that took place in Riverhead Saturday as residents of all ages joined forces for change and for greater communication with police. More than 100 protests have been held across Suffolk County after Floyd's death on May 25.

(Courtesy Tiara Ferebee)

Ex-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his left knee in the area of Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes as Floyd remained face down on the ground. He later died after crying out that he was struggling to breathe during the arrest and calling for his mother, video shows.

Organizer Tiara Ferebee said she and her wife Margarita organized the all-day, peaceful protest by the traffic circle near Peconic Bay Medical Center Saturday, with a goal of being heard "loud and clear."

Speaking to Patch, Ferebee said: "We have three children, ages 12, 9, and 8, and we don't want this to happen to our kids in 10 years. It's very important that we all come together."

(Lisa Finn / Patch)

Another protest was organized by the Mothers in Solidarity group and led by Cynthia Lister-Brunskill.

The event, "Mothers on the Forefront: A Heart to Heart with Local Law Enforcement," was held by the Peconic Riverfront and organized to help share "a mother's point of view on what it means to raise a black man in America," she said.

Lister-Brunskill, wearing a T-shirt that said, "Our Sons Matter," said she watched the video of Floyd's death. "It really touched my heart. I have a son that passed away recently. And to continue to watch police brutality going on in front of us, even after George Floyd's death, brought me to want to organize this. I wanted to hear from the mothers. I know there are mothers out there that feel the same way, who are very passionate about this."

She added that she hopes to take her mission further and organize other like-minded mothers to mobilize for change.

"We cannot be silent anymore," said Jean Lanham, who said she has a son that lives in DC; he came to attend a Center Moriches rally with her recently.

"When a mother sees a child go through something, it does something to us," she said. "We want to empower our youth in peace and love — but not be silent when injustice is being done."

Lanham spoke of her son, who "did not have to bribe any college to open its doors" and who earned a master's degree and served in the military. During an incident in the subway, he was injured and "taken down" by a police officer who reportedly saw his military ID and whispered in his ear, "I am going to ruin your military career," she said.

Mothers, she said, also have to empower their children to pray to God.

Lister-Brunskill asked those present to close their eyes and remember Floyd's last words, to remember his cries for his mother. "Picture that being one of your sons and how devastating that is," she said. "Every mother across the nation felt that."

“We know that when any child yells 'Mom', all moms turn around. When George Floyd yelled 'Mama,' every mom turned and it ripped our hearts out," said Councilwoman Catherine Kent.

She added that more diversity is needed in the town's work force, town government, school board and school district staff.

"I encourage more people to take civil service exams," Kent said. "As a town, we must do a better job at outreach into the community and I’m ready to get to work on that."

Tia Fulford, founder of the Butterfly Effect Project, a group that empowers young women, said all mothers — or aunts, sisters, friends — know "the fear of losing the one thing you helped to create."

It's no longer enough, she said, "to just love our sons a little harder"; instead, mothers must no longer stand behind but instead, to walk in front , to "walk the walk and talk the talk," working with elected officials and police for change.

"Stop walking to the door and being afraid to walk in," she said, adding that she didn't want to have to "see one more life lost, wipe another tear," or add another name to the list of black lives lost.

Marilyn Banks-Winter said she has five children and two sons; one son, now 28, was harassed at 12 by police in Bellport, she said.

She lauded Riverhead Town Police Chief David Hegermiller, who was present at the rally, as well as an earlier event organized by Fulford and the Butterfly Effect Project. He is also the town's liaison to the Anti-Bias Task Force, Winter said, adding that the town was blessed to have a "supportive chief. Not every chief is as approachable."

She also spoke of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's recent reform agenda signed into law, including a ban on chokeholds, making false 911 call based on race a hate crime, designating the Attorney General an independent prosecutor for matters relating to the deaths of unarmed civilians caused by law enforcement, and revising a law known as 50-a, which shields police officers' disciplinary records from being released to the public.

"This is historic," she said.

An open conversation between kids and police

Also on Saturday, Fulford brought young girls, members of the Butterfly Effect Project, to meet with Hegermiller and other officers during the "Pink & Purple Peaceful Presentation With the Police," held at Riverhead police headquarters.

The girls were able to speak with police and also joined in a circle to remember Floyd.

When asked why she organized the event, Fulford said: "We just wanted to create a safe environment for the girls to come and be heard. We thought it would be really awesome if, instead of standing outside, we'd stand inside and talk with the police."

Hegermiller, Fulford said, did a great of facilitating the event. The girls reached out on their own to make the initial phone calls, schedule the appointment, create a flyer and submit the flyer to Hegermiller for approval.

Hegermiller, she added, "had an open, candid conversation with the girls about what he was going to do to help foster a better relationship" between police and the community.

The chief, who spoke at both the Butterfly Effect Project event and the gathering at the riverfront, said during a very "unsettling time," he wanted to reassure residents and visitors that police are doing everything in their power to provide safety and security for all.

"We are the arbitrators of peace, but like everyone, we in the Riverhead Police Department have witnessed the tragic death of George Floyd," he said. "The actions of the officers in Minnesota go against us as human beings as well as the policy, practice and training of our department."

Hegermiller added that, as the Riverhead police chief for the past 18 years and a Riverhead police officer for 18 years before that, "I have not and will not tolerate abuse, maltreatment or crimes against anyone."

The cornerstone of the department's mission statement, Hegermiller said, "is the value of human life and the protection of the dignity of all people."

Hegermiller also spoke of diversity and urged all to take the civil service test to join the force.

Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar, who also attended the events at the Riverhead police station and at the riverfront, said, of Floyd's death: "No one condones it. The whole nation understands what happened and that it should never happen again."

Riverhead is a diverse community, she said, and there is a need to work collectively.

Aguiar spoke of Cuomo's mandate Friday for police reforms and community policing and said town officials will meet with law enforcement and the community to create change.

As the first Latina supervisor in Riverhead, she said, "My motto when I ran was, 'I will be working with all of Riverhead.' And I will not waver."

On the East End, protests have been held in Riverhead, Peconic, Greenport, Bridgehampton, Southampton, Westhampton Beach, Sag Harbor, and East Hampton; despite crowds that sometimes surpassed 1,000, no incidents were reported. A protest is scheduled for Sunday in Hampton Bays.