RICHMOND, Va. -- Hundreds of protesters marched through Forest Hill on Friday night demanding change and protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed on Memorial Day when a Minneapolis Police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.
Some of their demands include enacting a Citizens Review Board for the Richmond Police Department and to have charges dropped against those arrested for peaceful protesting.
On Tuesday, Richmond mayor Levar Stoney told demonstrators that he is committed to working towards dismantling racist systems and policies.
On Monument Avenue, peaceful gatherings continued Friday with many people praying, while others surrounded the Robert E. Lee monument and remembered the lives lost to police brutality.
“It was people of all denominations, races, all walks of life and it was one of the most spectacular sights I had seen in all my years of living," Jerrod Booker said.
Rodney Logan, 62 said that it was a wonderful feeling.
"This right here. It means a lot to me. I’m 62 years old," Logan said. “I’ve seen a lot of things. I remember Martin getting murdered. John F. Kennedy. And to see the young people, black, white, coming together just being Americans, it’s a wonderful feeling.”
The Lee Monument is now getting extra attention after the Governor announced plans to remove it on Thursday, something Logan said he never imagined.
"When I heard the governor say the statute was coming down I was like, really? I just couldn’t believe it.”
