Laramie residents came together to protest police brutality but it was only the beginning of a much larger march. The protest occurred every day beginning Tuesday and lasted through Sunday. Hundreds marched from downtown Laramie to the corner of Grand Avenue and 15th street.
The early days of the protest saw a small gathering and subsequent march, but it increased in size each day. Seemingly, there was an exponential growth in crowd size Thursday through Sunday.
Each day began in the social square near the downtown Coal Creek Tap location. Protest organizers provided water and masks as to maintain some health requirements for the still prevalent COVID-19.
Beginning around 5 p.m. residents would begin assembling and talking about their thoughts on recent events in the mainstream news. Many carried signs ranging from, “I can’t Breathe,” honoring the final words of George Floyd, to “Justice for Robbie,” a local man who was killed by police.
Speakers who wish to remain unnamed spoke to a crowd over a microphone with intense passion against police brutality. Their words also focused on peaceful assembly and the support of those harmed or killed by law enforcement.
A chanting of approval echoed through the crowd, while the speakers led the them down the side walks along Grand Avenue.
Within the crowd was Wyoming Cowboys football player, Jahmari Moore. To Moore, this is more than just a march; it is a reason to use his voice and stand up against Police Brutality.
“It’s encouraging to see it finally gets the attention it deserves for many, many years,” Moore said in an interview. “On the other hand, I hate that it has to come to such an extreme state to get attention.”
Moore said that he has never had conflict with authorities, but members of his family and close friends have.
“I try to reiterate to people who don’t understand the movement that it’s not about being anti-police or anti-white people,” Moore emphasized. “It’s more so of having more accountability in the justice system and in law enforcement.”
Moore has experience with other protests having participated in women’s marches in the past. He mentioned that is was a few years ago but believes that no matter the reason for protesting, it plays an important role in changing things.
“Not only does it [marching] bring attention to said issue, but it also causes disruption,” Moore said. “When you have a disruption in the system, people who maybe don’t pay attention now have to.”
While the protest in Laramie remained peaceful, other cities around the nation have seen an increase in conflict between protestors and police officers. University of Wyoming student, Autumn Knight partook in both the Laramie and Denver protests.
“I am new to Laramie and wasn’t sure if anything was going to happen,” Autumn said in an interview. “I have some friends in Denver, so I went there to protest with them.”
Knight was clear that the Laramie protest was very peaceful compared to the events in Denver. There were Laramie police following the march but from a distance, watching the crowd rather than intimidating them. Denver police reacted in a very different manner.
“In Laramie the police weren’t really involved and kept their distance,” Knight said. “Denver police were much more confrontational. They were more aggressive with protestors than Laramie police, even though Denver protestors were being peaceful.”
There have been protests across the United States since the death of George Floyd after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. After a couple weeks of protesting, the four officers in George Floyd’s death have been arrested.
