WATCH: Over 1,000 Protesters Rally In Sayville For George Floyd

SAYVILLE, NY — A large crowd gathered Sunday afternoon in Sayville's The Common Ground at Rotary Park to support the Black Lives Matter movement and protest police brutality and racism. The crowd, estimated at well over 1,000, was a mix of young and old Long Islanders. After a march down Gillette Avenue the protesters converged at the Common Ground.

After chants of "Vote Them Out" and "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" there were brief speeches by organizers and then an almost 9-minute long ceremony of silence and kneeling to remember the amount of time George Floyd was pinned with Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck.

Vinny Passannante, 21, of Lake Grove, came to Sayville because he was "sick of the cop-on-black violence," he told Patch.

"It's gone too far."

He added that he's always wanted to come to a local protest, but this being so close to home finally inspired him.

"It was phenomenal," he said. "Nobody was violent, nobody going beyond what they should do."

Check out additional photos from the protest, all courtesy of Matt Flood Photography: