In Homestead, Wynwood and Miami Lakes, protesters rally to end police brutality and racism

In Wynwood, a brass band played as hundreds of protesters marched and called for an end to racism — and for some, the end of the Cuban embargo. In Homestead, members of the black community gathered to appeal for an end to abusive police tactics and to single out a local officer who has been involved in a series of fatal shootings.

In suburban Miami Lakes, where no one could remember any similar protests being staged, a small group gathered early with similar messages about racism and police brutality and was later met with five counter-protesters who began preaching about Jesus over a loudspeaker.

“God loves black lives!” the first group of protesters yelled back.

Sunday marked the ninth straight day of marches and protests in South Florida following the death of George Floyd, who died on May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, drove a knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes while he lay face down on the ground.

While the weekend’s events remained mostly peaceful and mainly focused on ending police brutality and systemic racism, some protesters expanded grievances to include South Florida issues — from Cuban politics to media coverage some disdained. The tensest moments came Sunday night when scores of protesters climbed up onto Interstate 95 from an embankment near Wynwood but couldn’t get down, leading to a surreal sight: a line of officers marching alongside the group, walking them to a safe exit spot near 27th Street.

Still, the weekend was far more calm and controlled than the previous weekend when several Miami cop cars were set ablaze and several stores were looted at Bayside Marketplace, and the following day, when cops used tear gas to disperse protesters in Fort Lauderdale; one protester was also shot in the eye with a rubber bullet.

The most serious clashes occurred when hundreds protested on Saturday in Miramar, Wynwood and Florida International University. Four people wound up arrested at the FIU event for what police called unlawful assembly.

Sunday’s protests started at 2 p.m in Miami Lakes, where about 100 protesters gathered on Northwest 154th Street, holding signs and chanting Sunday afternoon. The protest, organized by 19-year-old Nina Zamora, had caused a stir in recent days in Miami Lakes, a community where only about 3 percent of the population is black.

Zamora said a flier posted to a local Facebook group was deleted, and many residents raised concerns about potential violence and the message of the event.

“I’m out here practicing my first amendment right,” Zamora told the Miami Herald. “We have to start these conversations about what this movement really is. If residents are mad about it, then they’re not mad about the right things.”

Several of the protesters, including pastor Stuart Bodin of the Miami Lakes United Methodist Church, said this was the first protest they had ever witnessed in the town.

“If one of your brothers or sisters are hurting, you stand up and help them,” he said. “If there’s injustice and oppression in the world you’ve got to do something about it.”

The protest was entirely peaceful as of around 3 pm. Dozens of cars honked their horns in support — one man yelled “Trump 2020” as he drove by, but that was the exception — as the protesters chanted, “Say his name, George Floyd!”

Zamora told the group police were “swarming around the area,” but few were visible during the event. Cones were set up along the intersection of Northwest 154th Street and 79th Court, which allowed protesters to draw supportive messages in chalk on the pavement. A table was set up with pizza, water bottles and snacks to keep the group fueled on a humid afternoon.

Shortly after 3 pm, five counter-protesters arrived, holding signs that included the message, “Jesus saves from hell” and speaking through a large speaker. One yelled: “All Lives Matter!” a common retort to the Black Lives Matter movement.

The two sides yelled at each other as several Miami-Dade police cars idled in a road median to keep the peace. A couple officers in riot got out and watched before the counter-protesters left.

State Rep. Cindy Polo, who grew up in Miami Lakes, said the nationwide unrest over Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police was “forcing many of us to have difficult conversations that this side of town hasn’t necessarily had.”

“I think the organizer [of this protest] is trying to change that,” Polo said.

About 30 miles south in Homestead, about 70 protesters gathered outside Homestead City Hall as 80s pop music blasted from large speakers.

Unlike other recent protests in South Florida, their main message to local police wasn’t just about the George Floyd case but also focused on a Homestead police officer who has been involved in a slew of shootings over the years.

“We’re not here today just because of George Floyd. We have injustice here in our own community,” said Alfonso Jackson of Second Baptist Church in Perrine. “We need to have justice in Homestead as well.”

The officer they singled out is Anthony Green, 48, a 26-year police veteran who has been involved in three fatal shootings, the most recent: the killing of Edward Foster III, a 32-year-old father of six in 2015. The case is still under investigation, according to police and the Police Benevolent Association.

Protesters demanded “justice” in Foster’s case, and implored the city to add body-worn cameras for cops and “an independent review board.”

“Homestead can’t breathe y’all,” protesters chanted.

Green has also been involved in the deaths of two other fatal shootings during his career. Prosecutors cleared him of wrongdoing in both cases. As the protest unfolded, the Miami-Dade PBA defended Green as a cop “who works in a very dangerous area” and said Foster pointed a gun at the officer.

“No police officer ever wants to take a life, unfortunately the situations that they find themselves in dictate that they must protect themselves and others,” PBA President Steadman Stahl said in a statement.

During the protest, a local ice cream shop gave away 1,000 free popsicles and ice cream cups. Volunteer organizations directed traffic and passed out free water and Gatorade under the blazing sun. There were dance numbers performed by children and teens, and speeches from local religious leaders.

Also in attendance were Florida Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel Powell, Homestead Vice Mayor Patricia Fairclough and former Homestead Councilman Jimmie Williams — who lamented that he didn’t fight harder to equip Homestead cops with body cameras.

“I’m complicit. We could have been having body cams,” Williams said, before chanting “We are mad as hell!”

The largest protest on Sunday came in Wynwood, where hundreds gathered at Panther Coffee, then marched through the streets.

Nearby, a brass band played on the corner of Northwest 23rd Street and Second Ave. Protesters left tips. A few steps away, protesters spoke out about cops and corporate media companies.

Faye Davis of the International Association of Black Professional Fighters encouraged the crowd to vote in local elections. She asked protesters to raise their hands if they were already registered.

“Raise your hand, because at the end of the day, that’s how we’re going to fight change. We gotta march, we gotta vote... nothing will get changed until we vote,” Davis said.

As the march began, organizers warned that police would be planting instigators and protesters needed to de-escalate tensions. The crowd unfurled three long green banners marked with the word: “Defund,” “Police,” and “Now.”

There were some tensions. A man in Spiderman costume appeared to be arguing with another protester — fellow marchers asked a Miami bicycle police officer to keep an eye on him.

George Caesar, 30, a math teacher at Miami Northwestern Senior High School, said he felt the ongoing protests represented a “boiling point” in the recognition of police violence, but that he hoped it would lead to reforms in police funding.

“When you hear defund the police ... what they’re saying is, Look, so much money is being spent on police, if you look in New York, you have nurses wearing ponchos and the NYPD comes out looking like Batman,” Caesar said.

“We have kids in school with police officers and no counselors,” he said. “I’m here for my grandparents who are too old, [my grandfather] just had his 94th birthday, and the fact that I have to protest the same thing that he did is insane.”

This story was originally published June 7, 2020 at 4:09 PM.