Protesters decrying police brutality meet downtown Spokane for third straight weekend

Demonstrators gathered in downtown Spokane for a third straight Sunday to protest police brutality, this time with the goal of defunding the police.

A crowd smaller than the thousands who have marched in recent weeks began filling the Lilac Bowl for the “People’s Nonviolent Protest To Defund The Police” organized by multiple organizations including the NAACP, Occupy Spokane and Eastern Washington Progressives, among others, on Sunday afternoon. Speakers took to the microphone just after 2 p.m., and a crowd approaching about 1,000 people  gathered on the lawn to listen.

Like in numerous cities and towns across the country, Spokane’s protests were sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Two weeks ago, a peaceful protest in Spokane became violent after a downtown store window was smashed , leading to Spokane police using tear gas and rubber bullets  against people on the streets. A large protest and march a week later remained peaceful , as have many weekday protests.

Several speakers focused on systemic changes and what they mean by “defund the police.” Nationwide police brutality disproportionately impacts Black people, and in Spokane data have shown that Black people in Spokane are five times as likely to be arrested as white people. On Sunday, some speakers condemned the Spokane Police Guild contract, which is up for a vote by the Spokane City Council.

City Council President Breann Beggs, who was out marching on Sunday, said nationwide and local protests against police brutality have changed conversations locally, including those around the Spokane Police Guild contract.

Initially, the Spokane City Council was set to vote on the Spokane Police Guild contract on Monday, but now, that vote likely will be delayed until June 29. The council officially will vote on whether or not to move that contract discussion on Monday.

Beggs has argued that the contract doesn’t comply with the city’s charter, specifically the voter-approved section surrounding the police ombudsman’s authority to investigate complaints and publish reports of his findings.

The Spokane NAACP has condemned the new contract, and President Kurtis Robinson has called on the City Council to reject it.

“This proposed Police Guild contract is unacceptable. Reducing police oversight and failing to respect the City Charter is tone deaf and backwards. We call on the Spokane City Council to unanimously reject this contract,” Robinson said in a statement.

The Spokane NAACP also is calling for evidence-based programs and models, demilitarization of law enforcement, reduced funding for local police and protecting the autonomy of the Police Ombudsman’s Office.

Occupy Spokane and Eastern Washington Progressives, which also released demands on Sunday, wants to defund the police, demilitarize the police, stop building prisons and create a people’s budget.

“When we say, ‘defund the police,’ we mean investing in the community,” Majid Sharifi, a professor at Eastern Washington University, told the crowd on Sunday.

Beggs said he plans to have a two-fold approach to police reforms going forward.

He said a long list of reforms will be rolled out Monday in a resolution, which he said the council will try to get Mayor Nadine Woodward to endorse. There are three ordinances drafted, so far, he said, that would put those reforms into policy. Some are what he said were “low-hanging fruit” reforms like banning choke holds, while other proposals might take longer.

“Our goal is to not just make a statement,” Beggs said.

Despite the rain and hail, hundreds of protesters gathered to hear community leaders and speakers for about an hour before marching a loop downtown.

Protester Maya Bybee said she thought the movement was at risk of “losing steam” if more people did not continue to actively work on being allies. She said she had previously been aware of the Black Lives Matter movement, but had never paid much attention until the video of George Floyd’s killing began to circulate widely.

“It made me want to dedicate more time to helping how I can,” Bybee said. “I think a lot of people feel, maybe not consciously, like they did their one good deed coming to a protest or two and are now feeling like the work is done.”

Bybee’s friend Claire Woodard agreed, saying that the pandemic has brought morale down for nearly everyone and made it harder to focus on prioritizing change over day-to-day habits.

“It’s harder for people who are not disadvantaged to see the need for change, because we aren’t constantly being confronted with it daily,” Woodard said.

Rachael Veal came to the protest because she is part of the LGBTQ community and recently did some research on Stonewall, the violent New York City police raids on bars and other community gathering places in 1969. Veal said her research reminded her reminded that black women were leaders of the movement.

“I can’t continue to benefit from the rights that they fought for without fighting for theirs,” Veal said.

Jac Archer, one of the speakers on Sunday with the Spokane Community Against Racism, brought awareness to Black trans men and women who are also subject to police brutality. Archer mentioned Tony McDade, who was killed by Tallahassee police in late May.

“You haven’t heard that name because he’s a black trans man, and so often when black trans people die, they are called a gender they are not or erased from death by what they were in life, so I wanted to raise that name up,” Archer said.

Neharika Sharma, 15, said she attended Sunday’s protest because the mistreatment of Black Americans has gone on far too long. She didn’t attend past protests because she felt uneasy about rumors of white supremacist groups showing up, but deemed it safe enough to come to Sunday’s event.

“Being here is so much more beautiful than the pictures from last week,” Sharma said.  “For me personally, the goal on a large scale is to defund the police but for me today it’s about educating ignorant people who may not know what that really means.”

Her father Rahul Sharma said his preferred method of protest was voting and supporting causes financially, but attended with Neharika to support her. An immigrant from India, Rahul said he admired the Indian independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi which largely focused on non-violent methods of protest.  Though he didn’t fear Sunday’s protest becoming violent, he said he opposed any use of violence among protesters or police and felt the most effective way to create change would be through education.

“Ninety-nine percent of these police killings are done out of unfounded fear, and vice versa when agitators have distracted from the larger message and caused violence,” Sharma said. “Without the knowledge of why we are afraid of each other, we can’t fix the problem.”

Former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart said he was attending the protest “because the system is racist.” He was concerned with what seemed to be a much lower turnout for Sunday’s event compared to the previous two weeks.

“Any historical movement that has made actual structural change was sustained for a very long time,” Stuckart said, citing the example of the 1955-56 Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott which lasted over a year during the Civil Rights Movement.

Anita Morgan was a child during the civil rights movement decades ago. She has lived in Spokane for over 30 years.

“I’m very impressed, as a child of the Civil Rights movement, to see this level of participation and persistence,” Morgan said.

Morgan has attended multiple protests over the past few weeks and said the research she has been doing on the Black Lives Matter movement has been very inspiring.

Morgan said she has been proud to witness” the emergence of young Black leaders who I feel are articulating such dynamic messages.”

The protest felt family friendly to Tiffany Hill and Louissa Largent who brought their children.

Both mothers said they have been talking to their children about the protests and movement for equality.

“I’m pretty much like an open book when it comes to my kids. If they have any questions I answer them honestly,” Hill said.

“I don’t want them to experience growing up not knowing what was going on when they were younger.”

Largent said her son, who is 12, lost his father to “the system” and so he can empathize with other families losing loved ones as well.

“He seems the injustice in what is going on,” Largent said. “He sees what’s wrong with the system.”

Hill said she didn’t think the Black Lives Matter movement would have such a strong following in Spokane, but as a Black woman it is encouraging.

“It feels good to know that there are people that understand the struggle of what Black people go through and they see it,” Hill said.

After several speeches and sung hymns, Spokane NAACP Chapter President Kurtis Robinson asked the assembled crowd to take a knee, a symbolic protest against police brutality that has garnered new significance in the wake of Floyd’s death.

For the second weekend in a row, Spokane police were stationed nearby on bicycles and a helicopter circled overhead as protesters streamed out of Riverfront Park and into downtown. Rain began to fall as the group wound their way through the streets.

Early in the march, members of Spokane Street Aid along with other protesters directed traffic away from the route themselves. Shortly after the march began, police cars began parking in intersections to keep cars off the route.

Rebecca Daignault-Walker, director of Spokane Street Aid, said the group had been handing out snacks and water throughout the march as well. The group, made up of volunteers with red electrical tape crosses on their backs, also provides medical assistance to protesters though Daignault-Walker said Sunday’s event had been without injuries.

“It’s been very peaceful today, we’re really out here for a reason today,” she said.

The march exited the park and headed down Spokane Falls Boulevard before turning down Main Street. As protesters passed Boots Bakery, employees and customers stepped outside and put their fists up in solidarity with the people marching.

As the protest turned the corner to Division Street, Jade Faletoi chanted with those around her. Faletoi said she has attended not only the recent Black Lives Matter protests but also the Spokane protest that occurred after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson. While this week’s protest had a smaller turnout that previous events, Faletoi said she thinks people are angry with how elected officials are handling protester’s demands.

“All of these people are just more irritated with how the Spokane City Council, the mayor, and the police department have responded to the previous protests,” Faletoi said.

Faletoi said there are some neighborhoods in Spokane where people of color have to worry about residents calling the police on them without good cause. Gentrification is adding to the problem, she said.

Deb Conklin wore a colorful ensemble that accented her purple hair to the protest Sunday that included a stole signifying her role as a pastor at Liberty Park and St. Paul’s United Methodist churches. Conklin said she feels that her religion calls her to stand up for the oppressed people in society.

“One of the reasons I’m a Methodist is the justice tradition,” Conklin said.

Conklin said when she reads the Bible, she sees Jesus fighting against injustice and for oppressed peoples.

“In my tradition if you’re a disciple of Jesus you figure out what he taught and how he lived and you try to follow it,” Conklin said. “If you claim to be a follower of Jesus and you’re not doing those things I don’t think you have a lot of integrity.”

Conklin said she believes the Black Lives Matter movement has been so strong in recent weeks because there are now four generations of people who do not want to “live quietly with injustice anymore.”

“Today is just one tiny piece. It’s not about today,” Conklin said. “It’s about today being a part of a bigger movement that says we have been too complacent for too long and we have to change and we have to change now.”

After the march, the group of protesters had thinned out as local musicians took the stage. A few people from the crowd spoke and performed spoken word before the crowd dispersed by 7 p.m.