Marchers in the George Floyd protests near the White House, Washington DC, June 6, 2020 (Erin Scott/Reuters)

Hundreds of thousands of Americans rally across the US in Black Lives Matter marches, spurred by the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota.

The second weekend of rallies were peaceful, with a mix of somber reflection, calls for action, and celebration. In some places, mayors and law enforcement officials joined the marches.

In Raeford, North Carolina, the birthplace of George Floyd, hundreds of mourners filed past his coffin outside the Free Will Baptist Church.

In Minneapolis, the site of Floyd’s homicide on May 25, the demonstrators called for defunding of the police. Major Jacob Frey responded, “I do not support the full abolition of the police department,” bringing cries of “Go home, Jacob, go home” and “shame”.

The City Council voted on Friday to ban officers from using chokeholds and neck restraints.

In New York City, the crowd marched from the National Black Theater in Harlem through Manhattan. They chanted “get off our necks”, “racism is America’s original sin”, and “Whose streets? Our streets!” Marches continued after curfew, including in Brooklyn.

In Seattle, Washington, marchers highlighted social and economic issues around Coronavirus, which has killed almost 100,000 Americans. Many wore scrubs and lab coats, carrying signs such as “Black Health Matters” and “Racism Is a Public Health Emergency”.

And in Washington DC, more than 10,000 people gathered near Lafayette Square by the White House, now fortified with a high fence to shelter Donald Trump. The crowd marched down the historic “Black Broadway” to the Lincoln Memorial.

The words “Black Lives Matter”were painted in bright yellow letters along a street near the White House. Demonstrators painted an additional message: “Defund the police.” Through the evening, the city center was filled with music, dancing, and ice cream trucks. A woman sang, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

The boisterous, sometimes joyful scene was a sharp contrast with Monday, when Attorney General William Barr ordered law enforcement to disperse people in Lafayette Park. The firing of tear gas accompanied Trump’s photo-opportunity walk from the White House across the street to St. John’s Church.

See also A Movement Rises from a Murder: The George Floyd Protests
The Bible is a Historic Symbol of Protest, So Why Does Trump Use It as a Symbol of Repression?

There were rallies in cities such as Louisville, Kentucky, mourning the police killing of Breonna Taylor in March and the shooting of David McAtee last week; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Denver, Colorado; and Jersey City, New Jersey. Small towns such as Vidor, Texas, once the site of Ku Klux Klan rallies; Havre, Montana; Richmond, Kentucky; Marion, Ohio; and Starkville, Mississippi had their largest marches in recent history.

Trump tried to belittle the gatherings while sniping at the media: “Much smaller crowd in D.C. than anticipated….CNN & MSDNC [MSNBC] are doing everything possible to ‘inflame’ the crowd. Fortunately they have a very small audience!”