Swampscott Protest Draws About 300 People

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — About 300 mostly young protesters gathered in Swampscott Tuesday for a rally that ended at the Monument Avenue home of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker.

The peaceful protest of the death of a black man in police custody on Memorial Day was held with support from the Swampscott Police Department. Organizers had only expected about 100 people to attend.

"I feel like as a person, I’m white, so I have a lot of privilege and I feel like I need to use it to spread the message that black lives do matter and all lives can’t matter until black lives matter," Sasha Danilov, one of the organizers, told 7 News Boston.

Tuesday marked the eighth night of protests in U.S. cities over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died Memorial Day in the custody of the Minneapolis police. While Sunday's rally in Boston ended with looting clashes between protesters and police, there have been peaceful protests in several Massachusetts cities, including Salem.