14 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 6, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Black Lives Matter protesters march through Bayside
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
More than 50 people united for a Black
Lives Matter demonstration that began at
Bowne Playground on Saturday, Aug. 1.
Th e protest was organized by Warriors
in the Garden — a collective of
nonviolent activists dedicated
to protecting their community
from all forms of systemic
oppression. Th ey decided to
return to Bayside almost three
weeks aft er a BLM demonstration
with theBayside
BLM group turned
hostile when some of
them came in contact
with apro-police rallygetting
ready to march
at Crocheron Park.
Th at aft ernoon, less
than a dozen BLM protesters
were met with
verbal abuse that turned
into physical attacks from
some of the hundreds of
people in the “Blue Lives
Matter” group, including
one woman who was
slapped in the face by an
unidentifi ed man wearing an
“NYPD” shirt and a 21-yearold
protester who was beaten
and arrested by police.
On Sunday, July 26, some of the protesters
with Bayside’s BLM group and
Warriors in the Gardenmet outside of the
111th Precinct— which had barricades
placed in the vicinity of the precinct while
almost two dozen police offi cers watched
the small demonstration. Th e protestors
were there to demand answers aft er
weeks of police not following up with the
Bayside woman who was slapped in the
face. Additionally, the protesters questioned
the arrest of another BLM protester,
who told QNS he didn’t understand
why police arrested and charged him.
Th e NYPD has not answered multiple
follow up questions from QNS regarding
these incidents.
On Saturday, the advocacy groups were
back to march toward the residential
neighborhood, made up of a predominantly
white and mid- to high-income
population, to march for justice and to
call attention to racism and police violence.
Th e march began the demonstration in
Flushing and turned onto Parsons Blvd.,
then Cherry Blvd. Bicyclists acted as protection
for the march
and traffi c control.
No police cars were
in sight during the
march.
Chants included
“wake up,
wake up, this is
your fi ght too,” “Show
me what democracy looks
like, this is what
d e m o c r a c y
looks like,” and
“Show me what
community looks
like, this is what community looks like.”
Th e march then made its way onto
Northern Blvd. Another organizer took
to the mic to lead a short song with the
words, “Mama, mama don’t you cry, I’ll
keep on marching till I die / Papa, papa
don’t you know, the police has got to got /
Ain’t no justice in this town.”
Aft er crossing Francis Lewis Blvd., an
organizer with Warriors in the Garden
played “Th is is America” by Childish
Gambino for a Black man with his fi st up
outside of the car dealership. She said that
when they encouraged him to join the
march, he said, “I gotta get money.”
By late aft ernoon, protesters arrived at
the 111th Precinct, which the NYPD had
blocked off in anticipation of the protests.
Protesters then stationed in front of the
precinct, with about a dozen police offi -
cers behind the barricades, and had several
people who were at the other encounter
speak.
Kristen McManus, the Bayside woman
who was slapped in the face by an unidentifi
ed man wearing an “NYPD” shirt, said
she wanted to take the time to “address
the police offi cers at the 111th Precinct.”
“Hey guys, you remember me, I’ve been
h e r e every week. You ignore me
b u t you can’t ignore all of
us,” she said. “Th ere’s a
strong narrative in this
community that you
are the ones that keep
us safe, but you did
not keep me safe, you
did not keep Yacine
safe, you did not
keep anyone safe
that day except
for Blue Lives
b——-, that’s all
you care about.
… I haven’t
felt safe in this
neighborhood
since that day.”
Before the protest
turned around to
Bell Blvd., a minor clash
took place. Th e same protester
who got beaten by police and arrested
almost three weeks ago attempted to
climb onto one of the barricades, although
he was grabbed and brought back to the
ground by his fellow protesters.
Several members of the crowd also got
into a verbal dispute about the incident
with the surrounding cops but further
escalation was avoided — one protester
who helped get the other person away
asked a police offi cer to say what they said
to him again while he was recording, but
didn’t get a response.
No one was arrested as a result of
the incident and the march continued as
organizers told protesters “not to engage.”
As protesters marched on Bell Blvd.
toward Crocheron Park, some people taking
advantage of outdoor dining in the
neighborhood held up their fi sts in solidarity
with the marchers.
Protesters then rested in the park upon
arriving around 5 p.m.
Photos by Dean Moses
Kiara Williams, Warriors in the Garden’s
co-founder and secretary, told QNS they
felt they needed to return aft er what happened
three weeks ago.
“Last time we were here we did not prepare
for a counter protest … so we wanted
to come back and make a statement
this time to let Bayside know, ‘Your racism
and your white supremacy and your fear
for change has to end because as long as
we’re around we’re going to keep making
noise here until you start changing yourself,’”
she said.
Williams said they were happy with the
turn out and that there were no counter
“Blue Lives Matter” protests, which they
anticipated aft er receiving threats on their
social media.
“I wasn’t OK leading people into that
because it’svery traumatizing. I know it’s
essential for people to see it and experience
it, but I don’t know if they’re aware of
being traumatized,” she said.
When asked about the minor clash back
at the 111th Precinct, Williams said she
was “frustrated.”
“It looked like the police got to us, and
I know for a fact that they felt proud in
that moment,” Williams said. “Yeah, this
is upsetting, seeing them just stand there
behind their barricades, seeing a Black
offi cer stand there, is upsetting but are we
going to be upset and irrational or are we
going to be upset and strategic?”
At the park, protesters played music, ate
pizza and had several speeches about racism
and police brutality.
Jessica, an organizer with Bayside BLM
group, said they were “incredibly grateful
to Warriors in the Garden for bringing
the much needed bodies and voices
to help amplify our message to Bayside
that we will not tolerate these racist antics
any longer.”
“We limited our coordination with this
protest as we felt it was owed to Warriors
in the Garden to plan their return aft er
the altercations and traumatic experiences
they encountered during their fi rst visit
to Bayside,” she said. “We truly appreciate
everyone in attendance and hope to
see them at future Bayside BLM protests.”
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