Crowd Marches from Bayfront Park to Duluth City Hall Protesting Police Brutality

DULUTH, Minn. – The Northland is celebrating Juneteenth, the day the last slaves in the southern U.S. were freed. At the same time, groups are also rallying against police brutality.

Hundreds of protesters marched over I-35 from Bayfront Park to Duluth City Hall demanding justice for black lives and the de-funding of Duluth Police Department.

“Collectively we as a people are not excited or happy about the status quo and people are really craving to see some systemic change,” said one protester.

The group converged at city hall with another march coming from the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial on East First Street.

“There’s not just black people here. There’s white people, hispanic people, some asian people, and it’s all people, it’s a melting pot and that’s what America is about,” said protester Shawn Lewis.

Protesters say they’ve been fighting for black lives for far too long and that it shouldn’t take another loss of life to keep the community engaged in this struggle.

“They should have noticed when Trayvon died, when Sandra Bland died, when Philando Castile in Minnesota died,” said Jaylah Willis, one of the organizers of the march.

According to people at the rally, racism is apparent everywhere, including in Duluth.

“It’s hard being anxious every time there’s a cop behind me in a car, you know what I mean? It’s hard for us out here,” explained Lewis.

The video of George Floyd dying in the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department motivated protester Nick Donkoh to drive to Duluth and make his voice heard along with thousands of others.

“I kept thinking about how this is not the only video that exists like this and I felt that I needed to be somewhere where people were feeling the same way that I was feeling,” explained Donkoh.

Marchers believe change is needed for people of color to finally feel safe in their own cities and towns.

“I felt like nobody was listening to us and now I feel like everybody’s starting to realize what is actually happening to people in our community every single day,” said Willis.

The Duluth Police Department tells us the protest remained peaceful with no arrests or citations issued.