Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown, left, and Police Chief Joe Coffay kneel on Public Square on Wednesday afternoon during a protest rally.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
WB’s mayor, police chief participate in demonstration organized by high school students
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Two demonstrators kneel and hold signs on Wilkes-Barre Public Square during a protest Wednesday afternoon.
Pat Kernan | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — Peaceful protesters returned to Public Square Wednesday afternoon, with two prominent faces among them.
Mayor George Brown and Police Chief Joe Coffay joined demonstrators — many carrying Black Lives Matter signs and posters — and symbolically knelt down among them.
Between 200 and 300 people gathered on the square in downtown Wilkes-Barre. The peaceful demonstrations follow similar gatherings on the square in recent days, as cities across America have been rocked by protests and riots following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died while being restrained by a Minneapolis police officer.
Wednesday’s protest was organized by a trio of local high schoolers, Winter Jenkins, Kaylee McNeil and Lakina Hughes. Through social media, the girls were able to drum up a massive amount of support from the community.
“It’s just so great to see everyone out here continuing the fight,” Jenkins said.
The trio stood at the heart of a crowd made up of all different ages, races and backgrounds, and demanded change and justice.
‘People care’
The girls came to Public Square with a purpose, but were still pleasantly surprised by the love and support they received from everyone.
“People care, and we’re not afraid of being who we are because we know people care,” McNeil said.
Aiding the three girls at the center of the crowd was Wilkes student Moustafa Almeky, who had the sea of people hanging on his every word, just as he did on Sunday afternoon.
Almeky was very pleased to see that people continued to show up in huge volume day after day.
“This isn’t something that we could just protest for a day and then walk away from,” Almeky said. “I’m so happy with our community for keeping this up.”
There were also a number of men and women who stepped up to the megaphone to share their own stories of racial injustice, or just to lend support to the movement.
‘We appreciate you’
Among the speakers was Brown, who expressed his support for the protesters and their cause.
“We want you here, we want to hear you, and we appreciate you,” Brown said with Coffay at his side. “And we thank you for respecting our city.”
The gesture of taking a knee gained traction in recent years when NFL player Colin Kaepernick and other athletes did so during the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” as a means of protesting police brutality against black people.
Prosecutors on Wednesday charged former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, accused of pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck, with second-degree murder, the Associated Press reported, and for the first time leveled charges against three other officers at the scene, according to criminal complaints.
When Almeky announced this news to the crowd, it was met with a thunderous ovation.
“He [Chauvin] is a murderer, not a cop,” Almeky said. “That’s what we’re going to call him.”
Just as they did during Sunday’s protest, everyone gathered took a knee or went flat on the ground for around eight minutes, in remembrance of Floyd.
This time around, the only sound was the song “Changes” by Tupac Shakur playing through a speaker.
“Tupac understood what was going on,” said Sameerah Woods. Woods gave an impassioned speech about the firsthand experience she’s had with systemic racism, and praised the community for having her back.
“Enough is enough,” Woods said. “There’s so much love here today.”