YOUNGSTOWN — When Christina Young was pulled over by police two weeks ago, her two young sons knew what to do. The older one put his hands up and cried for his 5-year-old brother to do the same, just like mom had taught them.
Young and her sons are black, and the killing of 42-year-old George Floyd last week reinforced that these lessons are necessary.
Young's eyes welled with tears as she told this story outside of the First Presbyterian Church Sunday morning before Youngstown's protest to honor "those whose lives were taken by violence." It was also aimed at ending police brutality.
Experiences like her run-in with police are why she came to the protest.
Jaietta Jackson, a friend of Young's and fellow protester, chimed in. "I have a 12-year-old son," Jackson said. "I've taught him what to do when pulled over. Those aren't lessons you should have to teach your young, black child ... Every time [a black person is killed by police], I cry and I worry about my kid."
Sunday’s event was organized by Ohio State University sophomore and Sojourn To The Past member Sonya Lenoir in protest after Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
Derek Chauvin, a 19-year veteran with the police department, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter after a video showed him with a knee on Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, while he said, “I can’t breathe” and yelled out for his mother.
Since the killing, riots and protests have bloomed in cities across the country, in some cases turning violent. Youngstown's protest Sunday was peaceful until late afternoon; downtown quieted at around 9:30 p.m. after about 12 arrests, primarily for curfew violations.
“It could happen here”
More than 800 miles from the site of Floyd’s murder, hundreds gathered Sunday morning in front of the First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown.
Multiple participants said they attended, because “this could happen anywhere.”
At about 11:45 a.m., the crowd — led by Lenoir, Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, state Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan of Youngstown and Youngstown Police Chief Robin Lees — began to march toward the Mahoning County Courthouse.
The march down Market Street was silent, save for one voice — Lenoir’s mother, Sonya Gordon. She heralded the protesters with a song. When she finished, the crowd broke out into chants of “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace.”
The march culminated in a series of speeches on the steps of the courthouse, starting with Lenoir.
"We live in a world where black women can't express self-love without being degraded," Lenoir opened. "We live in a world where black men don't live to their full potential because of the weapons formed against them.
"We live in a world where our children can't play with water guns outside, a world where you can't go to the store and get Skittles in Arizona, because you might not be so lucky to make it back home."
Jasmine Macklin, a junior at Youngstown State University, doubled over in sobs while delivering a passionate poem. The crowd encouraged her to continue.
Through tears, she finished with: "I guess I cannot blame you, it's been slaves and slaves and slaves. And, the way this country's going, we won't be free until our graves."
COVID-19 IMPACT
Before the march began, Mark Callion wove through the crowd holding the hand of his 6-year-old daughter Salome; with the other hand, he passed out masks.
In a crowd of hundreds, it's not hard to forget that the city, state and nation are in the middle of fighting a global pandemic. Given the size of the crowd, social distancing was not possible, but most participants sported face coverings.
For Callion, the intersection between the protest and the pandemic was clear.
"It's all about life and the preservation of life and so we want to promote that in a safe way. But what's happening in America is not acceptable," he said.
As Gov. Mike DeWine noted in his Friday news conference, protesting to police brutality and fighting a pandemic are not mutually exclusive efforts, for the pandemic has laid bare health disparities in the state.
In a briefing earlier in May, DeWine discussed the disproportionate cases and deaths from COVID-19 among black Ohioans. The disparity has been a trend throughout the country.
To an extent, the effect is visible in Youngstown's coronavirus data, especially when it comes to mortality.
According to data from Mahoning County Public Health, 87 percent of the cases in the city of Youngstown are white, and 13 percent are black. White people make up 49.3 percent of the city's population; black people make up 42 percent.
However, of those who died from the virus in the city of Youngstown, 52 percent were white and 48 percent were black.
Disruption downtown
Aside from a lone man with a megaphone yelling during speeches, the morning event was peaceful. A group of about 100 remained and protested throughout the afternoon.
The crowd occupied the intersection of Front Street and Market Street at 3 p.m. Police had blocked access to Market Street on multiple sides.
Shortly after, WKBN reported protesters broke windows at the United Way and Choffin Career and Technical Center. They also broke the window of a police cruiser at Wick Avenue and Wood Street.
Youngstown First-Ward Councilman Julius Oliver said he was disgusted to see earlier Sunday an SUV break through the line of protesters and see some marchers "bouncing off the hood." Another unidentified charter bus broke through the march near downtown's Western Reserve Transit Authority station, he said.
Oliver urged local protesters to "remain peaceful and let's make our voices heard at the voter box."
"Vote for people that are going to be for change when it comes to systemic racism. We have the power to do that."
WKBN reporter Joe Gorman followed the crowd through downtown Youngstown Sunday night. Protesters made stops at Stambaugh Auditorium and the county Justice Center, which includes the county jail and sheriff's office, but no incidents were reported there.
Tension heightened when the crowd swelled to about 500 people and blocked I-680, WKBN's Stan Boney reported. Youngstown Police and County Sheriffs disbanded protestors, and downtown was quiet by 9:30 p.m.
Officers began making arrests after Brown issued a curfew starting at 8:30 p.m. About a dozen people were arrested, said Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene. Most arrests were for curfew violations; some were for assault, Greene said.
Sunday saw some windows smashed and other "minor vandalism," said Greene, but he noted protesters "appeared to be fairly peaceful, especially when you compare it to other cities."
A similar event will take place at Warren's Perkins Park Monday at 6 p.m.
“An abundance of caution”
When news of violence downtown circulated, spawning rumors of violence spreading elsewhere, businesses started to close.
After receiving multiple online threats, Boardman Police Chief Todd Werth instructed multiple Boardman businesses to close early Sunday afternoon.
When Mahoning Matters spoke to Werth at about 4:30 p.m., he said there were no issues in the township.
Mahoning Matters toured Boardman at about 5 p.m., checking in on local retailers. Aside from retailers’ precaution and an increased police presence at shopping centers, everything seemed relatively quiet.
Employees at Ollie’s said they were told by the police to close, and they did. Dick’s Sporting Goods had closed early. Employees could be seen installing plywood behind the glass entrance.
Walmarts in Boardman and Liberty also closed early. The Shops at Boardman had cleared out, including Target, which closed early on Sunday.
Mercy Health issued an external lockdown order for its facilities in Youngstown and Boardman at about 5 p.m. Sunday. emergency rooms remained open.
An alert went out from YSU police to students and faculty at about 5:30 p.m. to avoid campus "due to disturbances in downtown Youngstown." When Mahoning Matters checked in on this alert, the dispatcher said it was issued as a precaution.
In addition to Youngstown's 12-hour curfew. Campbell and Struthers also instituted curfews starting at 9 p.m.
IDing protesters
The identity of protesters was the topic of social media speculation Sunday night. Some guessed they're not local. Others suggested they were paid.
Mahoning Sheriff Jerry Greene said his deputies logged many out-of-state or out-of-county plates during Sunday's protests, but he hasn't learned of any groups being paid to aggravate the protests.
Following Sunday's coordinated demonstrations, Ward 1 Councilman Julius Oliver said he'd heard comments from those in the crowd suggesting they came from out of town and were being paid to protest. It's something he expects Youngstown police will investigate.
"I think overall, today things went well. People came out to get their message out, have their voices heard peacefully speaking against police genocide. ... It's just those provocateurs that don't represent Youngstown are the ones that are making everybody look bad," Oliver said. "They don't got a message — their message is 'Let's tear some stuff up'."
In a post on Facebook announcing a Campbell's curfew Sunday night, Mayor Nick Phillips referenced social media posts claiming paid protesters were responsible for the violence downtown.
Phillips told Mahoning Matters he was made aware of social media comments posted during a live stream of Sunday's protests in downtown Youngstown which suggested Campbell may be a target of looters. That same commenter also suggested violence would be directed toward city police.
Phillips said the city's entire police force was called into duty Sunday night, in response to posts about paid provocateurs that may be targeting the city.
"You've got some people out there doing peaceful protests and then you've got people coming in — these are paid actors, they're coming in to seek and destroy. ... It's not about that protest with them. They are domestic terrorists."
On Phillips' post, one commenter shared a fake advertisement looking for paid protesters. The flyer reads "Funded by George Soros," and references the Thurston County Democrats, a political organization in Washington state. The organization put out a statement Saturday addressing the fake posters.
"False and forged images are being spread nationwide that say, 'Get paid to be a professional anarchist,'" the post read. "This disinformation displays [Thurston County Democrats'] phone number and an incorrect TCD email/web address."
The post encourages people to report the poster to Facebook as false information.
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