BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A crowd of hundreds came together and walked from Niagara Square to Bidwell Parkway in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
"We saw the riots happening after George Floyd passed away. And we were like how about instead of feeding into the negativity, let's add to the positivity," said David Hall, who organized the march along with Alicia Yeager.
This movement is personal for Hall. He knows people locally who have died in police custody. On the day George Floyd was killed, he was pulled over in Buffalo and says things 'got nasty'.
"We've seen the negativity, I've felt the negativity, I've personally experienced the negativity, so that's why we wanted to be completely peaceful," said Hall.
He led hundreds down Elmwood Avenue, stopping at Bidwell Parkway for a moment of silence for the lives lost.
A moment of silence for the lives lost to police brutality here at Bidwell Parkway and Elmwood. pic.twitter.com/5YiZE0cPvB
— Taylor Epps (@taylor_epps_) June 7, 2020
"People in Buffalo don't talk about the people who get brutalized in the holding center. People die in Atlanta, people die in LA, but what about the people in Buffalo?" asked Hall.
That's why he and other demonstrators brought tombstones to with the names of those who died locally in police custody. Organizers also helped people register to vote and say they will continue to push for change.
"I'm gonna be a teacher soon, so I'm gonna take that back to my students and push it in the classrooms, push it in the schools that black lives do matter," said Hall.
