An estimated crowd of more than 2,000 people took over the downtown streets of Kent on Thursday afternoon and evening during a peaceful protest to end systemic racism and hold police accountable.
People of all colors and ages gathered first on the steps of the Maleng Regional Justice Center. Then they marched through several streets and ended up outside of City Hall. It marked the first protest in Kent after demonstrations broke out across the nation over the last two weeks following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police officer.
“I think this turnout is amazing,” said Kendrick Glover, one of the organizers of the Black Lives Matter Protest March for Justice and Peace, during an interview. “We had over 2,000 people show up today in solidarity and support for Black Lives Matter. I think the movement is not a moment anymore and there is an opportunity for us to really capitalize off, unfortunately, the death of black people to turn the system right side up from the inside out.”
City officials estimated the crowd at more than 1,000, according to its Facebook post. There were also no arrests, violence, vandalism or looting during the nearly three-hour event, according to city staff.
Early on at the Regional Justice Center, Police Chief Rafael Padilla asked everyone to take a knee with him to show the entire community is together. A few other officers also were in the crowd, but otherwise the only police presence included officers who blocked off the streets so vehicles couldn’t interrupt the protest. There were no officers in riot gear and no more than a few police at any one street, at Kent Station or City Hall.
A few businesses along West Smith Street were boarded up, including Bank of America and The Platform Apartments, but nobody damaged any buildings.
“Peacefulness is what we seek and is what we have,” Glover said. “We are angry right now but we want to be angry with the change not with destruction and terror. We want to be angry with the structure of the system and to help (leaders) understand the changes we are demanding right now.”
Keliesha Lovelace came up with the idea for a protest in Kent and asked Glover to help her.
“I’m doing this because I’m raising a beautiful brown little boy who is almost 7 years old in the city of Kent and I don’t want him to grow up and be another hashtag,” Lovelace said to the crowd gathered outside of City Hall. “I refuse to have him be another hashtag. It starts here with all of us and all of us coming together.”
Lovelace also organized the rally in support for Giovan Joseph-McDade, who was fatally shot by a Kent Police officer at the age of 20 in June 2017 after a short vehicle pursuit.
Sonia Joseph, the mother of Giovan, spoke at the protest.
“The day that my son was murdered I started and I won’t stop until we get accountability for the murder of our young people, black, white, Asian and all killed by law enforcement,” said Joseph, who last month filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Kent and its police department for the wrongful death of her son.
Katrina Johnson, a cousin of Charleena Lyles, who was shot and killed in June 2017 by Seattle Police in her apartment, spoke directly at Kent Police officers during the protest on the Justice Center steps.
“If you are going stand in solidarity with Black Lives, I need you to apologize to Sonia Joseph for killing Giovann Joseph McDade,” Johnson said. “For killing Eugene Nelson (in August 2o17) and many other lives that you have taken. There is no solidarity when you have that blue line because it supersedes your blackness and many other things. …I’m not coming to no bow the knee to have you blow smoke up my ass. It shouldn’t have took the murder of George Lloyd to bring you to the table and decide that racism is enough.”
Kathleen Strickland, whose son Enosa (EJ) Strickland, Jr., 26, was fatally shot in May 2019 by Auburn Police, also delivered a message.
“We came to the conclusion that police should not and cannot investigate themselves,” Strickland said to loud cheers after she explained how shootings by police (and of her son) are investigated by the Valley Investigative Team, composed of detectives from seven neighboring police agencies, including Kent and Auburn.
“They all cover for each other,” Strickland said. “It was never about them finding out the truth but justifying the officers’ actions. …change and reform needs to happen now. I have never seen a profession where murder is allowed to go unpunished.”
Elaine Simon, the foster mother of Jesse Sarey, 26, spoke about how Auburn Police fatally shot Sarey, also in May 2019.
“He was executed by Auburn Police Officer Jeff Nelson almost a year ago on May 31,” Simon said. “This officer has three kills in less than five years and he is still on the force!”
A lawsuit was filed this month by the estate of Isaiah Obet against the city of Auburn and Officer Jeffrey Nelson for allegedly killing Obet. The suit claims the shooting was similar to the Sarey case, with first one shot fired and then a second shot fired at close range.
Kent City Councilmember Brenda Fincher told the crowd racism has existed much too long.
“Whereas the ignition point was George Floyd, that’s what turned a lot of people on to the fact that racism still exists, if you are a person of color you know racism exists because we live it everyday like the air we breathe,” Fincher said to cheers.
Fincher wants people to keep on fighting the fight.
“We are here for change,” Fincher said. “What I ask you to do six months up the road is don’t let this drop. …It’s going to take all of us, our white brothers and sisters, our brown brothers and sisters, all of us working together.”
Other politicians who spoke included Kent Mayor Dana Ralph, King County Councilman Dave Upthegrove and State Sen. Mona Das, D-47th District. Several people in the crowd continually shouted at Ralph as she talked about how important it is to say that Black Lives Matter and that local government needs to do better.
“It’s not just about the police department,” Ralph said. “It’s about every department and every service and program we provide. …We have to fight racism and fight for equality and dignity and respect for every single one of us.”
Glover said he believes change for the better is ahead for the city of Kent.
“We have over 125,000 residents and 27,000 students in our school district and when our young people step up and they lead, things will change,” said Glover, co-founder of GEM (Glover Empower Mentoring) a community-based organization that supports youth and young adults in the area. “It is about our youth and young adults not about our local leaders and politicians. They were here to listen and learn what to do, and if they are not with us, we consider them against us. And in the next cycle we will vote.”
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Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla invites the crowd to take a knee with him on the lawn of the Maleng Regional Justice Center on June 11. STEVE HUNTER, Kent Reporter
A family hangs a poster from The Platform Apartments and watches the Black Lives Matter protest march June 11 in downtown Kent. STEVE HUNTER, Kent Reporter
After the protest march, the crowd gathers outside of Kent City Hall June 11 to listen to speakers. STEVE HUNTER, Kent Reporter
Protesters turn out for Black Lives Matter march in Kent June 11. STEVE HUNTER, Kent Reporter
