No sign of police or barricades yet on day 7 of KC protests as traffic flows freely
Protests over the police killing of George Floyd continued for a seventh day in Kansas City with a smaller crowd and no sign of law enforcement in the vicinity.
With the temperature topping 90, a relatively small number of people began gathering across from Country Club Plaza Thursday afternoon in Mill Creek Park, site of protests since Saturday.
By 5 p.m., about 70 folks had gathered in the shade, holding up signs and not knowing what the rest of the afternoon and evening would bring. Earlier, a moment of silence was observed as traffic flowed freely by for the first time in days.
Tensions have been easing since confrontations between demonstrators and police turned violent at times during the first few of the now nightly protests.
So much so that police announced mid-afternoon Thursday that for the first time in several days all streets were back open through the Plaza. But the stores and other businesses there remained closed, as they have been since Saturday afternoon.
Those businesses had planned to reopen on Monday, but extended the closures after violence erupted over the weekend and windows were broken.
Police made 200 arrests during the first six nights of protests, but the number of people arrested has been declining. Only four were taken into custody Wednesday, down from 25 the night before, according to department spokesman Sgt. Jacob Becchina.
As the crowd began to slowly build Thursday, 74-year-old J.J Johnson cranked up the volume on a giant boom box and shared some tunes with those around him in celebration of the community’s condemnation of police brutality everywhere.
“It’s a time to rejoice because now somebody is listening,” the Kansas City native said.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 4:03 PM.
