Midnight passed in New York and Washington, DC, and it was evening in Los Angeles, but the big crowds are still on the streets and the spirits are high in both cities.
In New York, protesters pass through Greenwich Village in downtown Manhattan. The curfew was 20:00, but there is no heavy police presence tonight, and the police are not pushing the curfew with arrests, as earlier this week.
Protesters have been walking for hours. Some organizers and leaders maintain morale with call and response manifestations such as “Don’t do, we are united, we are peaceful” and “United, people will never be defeated.”
“The system will not win,” one protester told CNN. “People now have a voice and they’re listening to us. They’re listening to us because we’re together. They’re listening to us because things like that happen in the middle of Manhattan, thousands of people, thousands of people No longer have to allow injustice to happen.”
In Washington, DC, CNN Reporter Alex Marquadt said the crowd at the scene was too big tonight – perhaps the biggest since they started.
The curfew was lifted earlier this week, and protests remained peaceful. People gather at the edge of Lafayette Park near the White House and take a photo with a new street sign that says “Black Lives Matter Plaza”.
Marquadt, there are some law enforcement and National Guard troops in sight – but nowhere near the aggressive numbers seen earlier in the week.
In Los Angeles, The curfew was also lifted, and tonight and protests remained peaceful.
CNN reporter Lucy Kafanov said that at least 1000 people at the scene had diverse hikers. “Members of the Asian community saw the Latino community, whites, blacks, LGBTQ, everyone”.
“The community environment is really remarkable,” he said. “There are a lot of people walking around to distribute snacks, masks, hand sanitizers, food for demonstrators … One of the nice things we see is that as people pass through the various apartment buildings, start applauding the pots and pans for the solidarity of the protests.”
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