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Hundreds turn out for Catskill protest
Jun 05, 2020 6:35 am
Hundreds marched in Catskill June 4, joining others around the nation condemning the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police, and also against other police brutality. WGXC's Neva Wartell walked with protesters and made a full recording of the proceedings available in the WGXC Audio Archives at wgxc.org. The crowd met at Catskill's middle school at 5 p.m. June 4, and walked across the Black Bridge over the Catskill Creek, and down to the Greene County Courthouse, where speakers denounced police violence. HERE IS A BRIEF CLIP OF WHAT THE MARCHING SOUNDED LIKE. The Catskill protest was entirely civil, not like the protest June 4 in Buffalo, where two cops were seen in a widely shared video violently pushing to the ground an older gentleman who did not seem to be doing much of anything. The wide gulf between police and marchers protesting police abuse continues to grow in many cities across the country. Locally, an organizer helping students at Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park put together the Black Lives Matter march on June 8 said the teens who are planning the event feel intimidated by town officials and the State Police, the Times Union reports. Jamaica Miles, of All of Us Community Action, said teen-agers are upset about calls from police who want to meet with them. “They are kids and they are scared. I’m a mom. They are visibly shaken. This is fear tactics. This is intimidation,” she said. Police said they called just to talk about protest details. “The purpose of the meeting was to work with the organizers on a plan that would ensure everyone’s safety,” State Police spokesperson Trooper Kerra Burns said. In Albany there have been daily protests in the streets, and on June 4 they moved to the city's Common Council meeting. Earlier this week Albany Police arrested someone recording the arrest of someone else, with some violence recorded. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan found the video he made "troubling," and then charges were dropped against the man who recorded the video. But anger remains high in Albany with the police who have been rough with protesters all week. “The officers involved in that are tone deaf because with every thing that’s going on and had gone on in the days leading up to that, for them to interact with that young man that way made absolutely no sense,” said Albany Councilperson Kelly Kimbrough. Protesters at the city meeting wanted Albany police to wear body cameras, and give the Albany Police Board the ability to subpoena officers in cases of wrong-doing, among other reforms. Now Troy is the next major upstate protest this weekend, with a gathering Sunday, the day after a very large protest is being planned in Washington, D.C.