Local leaders ask for protesters’ message not to be lost as community addresses looting and violence

Leaders in local government and the Black community in Spokane thanked protesters who demonstrated peacefully Sunday afternoon, and condemned violence and looting.

The protest drew thousands who demonstrated against police brutality against communities of color and the death of George Floyd in police custody. The main protest remained peaceful, but after most had left some began looting and vandalizing local businesses and the courthouse.

During a news conference Monday, Mayor Nadine Woodward said the Sunday afternoon protest generated important conversations between community and law enforcement she hopes will continue.

“Our protest, most of the afternoon, was a powerful example to the rest of the country about what we are as a community,” Woodward said.

She also thanked protesters who came downtown early Monday morning to clean up any broken glass or debris left on the sidewalks and streets.

Betsy Wilkerson, the only Black member of the Spokane City Council, urged families of color to be safe, and said she appreciated the unity and community who came together for the protest.

“The sea of people there looked like the Spokane we want, it was so diverse, it was unified,” she said. “The rally was amazing.”

Wilkerson said she is one of three generations to see protests with little change, and she urged people to continue demonstrating, but she asked people to refrain from violence.

“Don’t loot, don’t destroy property, but please keep protesting,” Wilkerson said.

Woodward and Wilkerson were joined by a number of Black community leaders and pastors who thanked those who protested. They asked the community to remember the deeper message and keep advocating for change.

Pastor Shon Davis, who leads Jesus is the Answer City Church in Spokane, noted the efforts of Spokane law enforcement leaders and the Black community had made toward understanding in recent years and said he was proud to support the protest and appreciated the diverse perspectives.

He also addressed the groups who vandalized and looted downtown stores.

“It does sadden me to see that sometimes you have people with their own agenda who don’t understand the fathers and mothers who have been crying for centuries to have platforms to have their voices heard,” Davis said. “I want to say I appreciated this mayor. She was saying that we won’t allow our community to be cheated out of that message being sent that we are truly here to be one people, one city, one voice and to stand together as one people.”

Kurtis Robinson, president of the Spokane NAACP, said the event had been hijacked by other groups, but he hoped some important lessons could still be taken forward – that everyone involved was human and that the community needs to unify to make progress.

“We need to get comfortable with the uncomfortable,” Robinson said, “Because Our comfort zones are the problem. Our comfort zones have been raised and have that historic context imbedded in it. We need to dismantle that and replace it with something much more humane, much more loving, so much better and that’s what we’re crying out for. We can only get there together.”

In a news conference Monday afternoon, Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said those who had used the protest as an opportunity for looting and violence dishonored George Floyd’s memory.

“You all owe the African American community an apology,” Knezovich said. “You have damaged their just cause.”

Knezovich, who also called the circumstances that led to Floyd’s death inexcusable, said the earlier protest had led to some important conversations about race between himself and demonstrators.

He said he was pursuing charges against those who had vandalized the courthouse and said he would re-arrest anyone who tried to vandalize or loot businesses Monday night or later in the week.

Both Knezovich and Spokane police Chief Craig Meidl said people are still free to protest if they choose, though law enforcement is on high alert.