Hundreds March Through Astoria Demanding Justice For George Floyd

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Astoria on Tuesday to protest the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police and to demand an end to police brutality.

At least 300 protesters marched from Steinway Street and 30th Avenue to the NYPD's 114th Precinct station chanting "no justice, no peace" and displaying signs with messages like "racism is the pandemic" and "why are you so afraid of peace?"

"We wouldn’t have to march if there was peace," Kevin, a 24-year-old protester from Brooklyn, told Patch.

Kneeling protesters filled the intersection of 30th Avenue and Steinway Street for almost nine minutes of silence, representing the amount of time Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck as he repeatedly told police he couldn't breathe.

The protesters asked the police officers around them to join in — to no avail.

"Bring this energy to the precincts," one person shouted.

At the corner of the NYPD's 114th Precinct station on Astoria Boulevard South, protesters kneeled before a line of police officers in riot gear gripping batons. The officers stood silently as protesters chanted "we are peaceful" and asked the officers to join them in kneeling. The police officers remained standing.

Crowd kneeling in Astoria at a #BLM protest right now. They ask NYPD to join them. pic.twitter.com/qLlUIkbZpJ
— Maya Kaufman (@mayakauf) June 2, 2020

One protester, Emmett Tross, described the times he's been racially profiled by police when asked why he decided to attend Tuesday's protest. He emphasized the peaceful nature of protest and urged bystanders to not conflate protesters with agitators.

"Protesters are people like me out here peacefully trying to get an understanding of what’s going on," Tross said. "I’m fighting a figurative fight that happens to be a reality."

Tross, who is the music director at the First Reformed Church of Astoria, shook hands with a police lieutenant after the protesters left the 114th Precinct and invited officers to join him at the church for a discussion about police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement.

“We are peaceful” protesters shout outside the @NYPD114Pct pic.twitter.com/QaZnyNwVlK
— Maya Kaufman (@mayakauf) June 2, 2020

As protesters marched to the 114th Precinct and back, some handed out masks, bottles of water and snacks — including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a portion of Astoria and stopped by to distribute snack bars and KN95 masks.

"In our community, the actual protesters are overwhelmingly peaceful, and we have to make sure that we keep the focus on the demands of Black Lives Matter, which is justice for George Floyd and systemic, systemic change in our justice system," Ocasio-Cortez told Patch.

Tuesday marked the sixth day that protests have gripped New York City and the nation since Floyd's death after a police officer — who has since been charged with murder— knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Astoria's peaceful demonstration contrasted starkly with the scenes that played out at other protests over the weekend in Manhattan and Brooklyn, where videos show NYPD officers shoving a protester to the ground, driving police SUVs into crowds of protesters, pointing a gun at protesters and pulling down one man's mask and blasting him with pepper spray.

"Every police officer in the city of New York swore a constitutional oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and that includes freedom of assembly," NYPD Deputy Inspector Michael J. Gibbs, commanding officer of the 108th Precinct in Long Island City, told Patch during the protest. "We're here to protect people and allow that to happen. We're all here to listen."

But Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have started urging protesters to stay home, citing concerns that the crowded demonstrations could cause a spike in cases of the new coronavirus.

Protesters in Astoria were at times closer than six feet apart, but most wore masks or face coverings. Meanwhile, many police officers monitoring the protest, including several wearing the white shirt that denotes a high ranking, either wore masks below their chins or wore no mask.