Wooster remembers: BLM protests continue 700 days after George Floyd's death

Bryce Buyakie, The Daily Record
·1 min read
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Approximately 50 demonstrators hold signs and wave to passersby in downtown Wooster Sunday, the 700th consecutive day of protests since George Floyd's death.
Approximately 50 demonstrators hold signs and wave to passersby in downtown Wooster Sunday, the 700th consecutive day of protests since George Floyd's death.

WOOSTER – Sunday marked 700 consecutive days of rallies in the city with roughly 50 Black Lives Matter supporters holding signs downtown.

For nearly two years, members of the Wayne County Racial Justice Coalition and Wooster-Orrville NAACP have protested police brutality and supported local police policy reforms.

Daily rally: Nearly 600 days of protests and counting; Wooster BLM seeks police policy changes in 2022

These reforms include banning choke and carotid holds, no-knock warrants and making local public police data more accessible, said Désirée Weber, the political and community engagement committee chair of the NAACP and Racial Justice Coalition.

Desiree Weber, Linda Houston and Herb Weber were among 50 demonstrators holding signs Sunday in downtown Wooster to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Sunday marked the 700th consecutive day of demonstrating as the local NAACP and Racial Justice Coalition seek police policy reforms.
Desiree Weber, Linda Houston and Herb Weber were among 50 demonstrators holding signs Sunday in downtown Wooster to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Sunday marked the 700th consecutive day of demonstrating as the local NAACP and Racial Justice Coalition seek police policy reforms.

To keep it going for that long, several people stand at the city square in Wooster from noon to 1 p.m. each day. On Sunday, dozens of sign-holding demonstrators were on hand to mark the milestone.

The daily protests began in 2020 when George Floyd was killed after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pinned him to the ground with his knee on his neck for over nine minutes.

Chauvin appealed his 22 1/2-year prison sentence Thursday.

He argued that jurors were intimidated by the protests that followed Floyd's death and influenced by pretrial publicity, according to a USA TODAY report.

Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter last June.

Reach Bryce by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com

On Twitter: @Bryce_Buyakie

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: 700 days of Wooster Black Lives Matter protests seek police reform