Two years after George Floyd's murder has anything changed in Asbury Park?

ASBURY PARK - Two years after global protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd, members of the Black community in Asbury Park say the fight for equal justice continues.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020, when police officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been convicted of Floyd's murder, pressed his knee to Floyd's neck on a Minneapolis street. The murder was recorded on video by 17-year-old bystander Darnella Frazier.

Frazier testified that Floyd pleaded for help in those last minutes of his life.

"I can't breathe, please. Get off of me. I can't breathe. He cried for his mom. He was in pain. It seemed like he knew it was over for him. He was terrified. He was suffering. This was a cry for help," Frazier told a jury.

In the summer of 2020, thousands of people gathered in the Asbury Park municipal complex and then marched to protest Floyd's murder, with similar protests held around the country and the across the globe.

Felicia Simmons, president of the Monmouth/Ocean County National Action Network, said the George Floyd protests put the Black community here at the forefront and made people of color across Monmouth County more visible.

"However, a month later, cops are still killing a Black man in his own home, Hasani Best, but because of the protest they killed in a uniform and on camera," Simmons said, "still so much more work to do, but now we don't have to do it alone."

Best was shot and killed by an Asbury Park police sergeant during a standoff in 2020.

Feeling of no progress since protests

The Rev. Derinzer Johnson was pastor for St. Stephen Episcopal AME Zion Church on Springwood Avenue in Asbury Park for over three decades. In that time, he worked on social issues in the community and helped create organizations, such as the Asbury Park Community Action Network.

He said he does not feel that there has been progress since the George Floyd protests.

"There is still an ongoing alarming number of incidences of unarmed black men, women and children who continue to be killed, shot and assaulted at the hands of white police officers. This kind of inhumane brutality is unacceptable, criminal, and should not be tolerated in our world," Johnson said.

"I think the same fear and trepidation that existed with people of color and interactions with the police department/ law enforcement still exists. I think there are still actors in the police department that are closer to Derek Chauvin and his mentality. I do know that in some ways the police departments are working to root them out. and in some cases. they have," said Semaj Y. Vanzant, Sr., pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Asbury Park.

Vanzant said he has brought issues to the attention of the local police department.

"We brought things in, and they are no longer officers anymore," he said.

But the root of the problem remains.

"Some of it is the implicit bias that is built into the fabric of our culture," Vanzant said, adding educating police officers and exposing them to other communities and cultures is crucial.

If a police officer grew up in an upper-middle class, predominantly white area like Colts Neck or Manalapan, and they get assigned to the West Side of Asbury Park, there could be a culture shock because of the implicit biases that exist, he said.

"So they come here, especially the younger or rookie cops that are on the beat, if they are walking down some of these streets, they are walking with their hands on a gun, like what are you doing? Why are you that scared?" he said.

"Until people of color are seen as human beings and treated as such within the larger system, and the way that loans are given in banks for business or homes, and the quality of education across the board, no matter what the zip code," Vanzant said.

Conversations with the community

Housing advocate Tracy Rogers, one of the founders of the Asbury Park Affordable Housing Coalition, knows equity remains an issue in Asbury Park.

"Two years after the George Floyd rally, leadership in Asbury Park still don't know what the true meaning of equity is. You will see it when there is true and transparent meeting with all stakeholders are at the table, until then its just meaningless words, with no action behind them," Rogers said.

Vanzant serves as chaplain for the Asbury Park Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. He was involved with other pastors of color in anti-bias training for officers and cadets.

"I can say specifically in Monmouth County that the Prosecutor's Office is making great strides on the law enforcement end to really make some shifts and some changes for how they approach these cases, for how they train their officers," Vanzant said.

He invited former acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck to his office and met with him to speak about the issues.

"We have had conversations what about what this looks like, of course none of the (incidents) have made it to the national level of George Floyd, (but) we have had incidents here in Asbury Park," Vanzant said. "They've come here often, we have done conversations with the community. So when the community has been able to voice hurt and pain, and they have been able to explain some of the changes they have been making."

Asbury Park Police Chief David Kelso did not comment for this story, but the department's public information officer Michael Casey provided a brief statement.

"The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has since (Floyd's death) released Directive 2020-13, Revising Use of Force Policy and Procedures. The Asbury Park Police Department is diverse and reflects its’ community appropriately. Officers and civilians have become more well versed in dealing with and implementing the First Amendment right to free speech.

"The Asbury Park Police Department has and continues to strengthen relationships with the community through transparency as well as participating in activities such as National Night Out, Greater Asbury Park Community Development Initiative and the Police Athletic League."

Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: George Floyd murder anniversary: Racial equity still sought in Asbury