After night of nonviolent protests, KC organizers promote downtown rally for Friday
After seven nights of decrying racism and police brutality from the park across from the Country Club Plaza, Black Lives Matter protesters say they will move their demonstration to downtown Kansas City on Friday.
The event is advertised to start at 11 a.m. on the south steps of City Hall, beginning with speeches and followed by a protest set to last until 2 p.m.
The change of venue comes after nonviolent protesters marched through the Plaza and Westport on Thursday, the seventh straight night of demonstrations in Kansas City spurred by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Thursday’s march began several hours into the protest with the sun still up on a muggy evening. It was a much smaller crowd than on previous nights, when clashes with Kansas City police led to scores of arrests and clouds of tear gas.
This night, the cops remained mostly out of sight, as tensions had been diminishing the last few evenings as police and community leaders engaged protesters and promised reforms.
As such, the mood Thursday was calm in comparison, yet spirited, with people chanting “yes, we can” and “racist cops killed George Floyd.”
Gone were rows of cops in riot gear. The few squad cars that appeared on the scene were seemingly there to protect protesters from traffic as they marched down city streets. Police never left their vehicles.
With the temperature topping 90 in the late afternoon hours, a few dozen people began gathering across from the Plaza in Mill Creek Park, site of protests since Saturday.
By 5 p.m., about 70 folks had gathered in the shade, holding up signs, not knowing what the rest of the afternoon and evening would bring. A moment of silence was observed as traffic flowed freely by for the first time in days. Later, came the chanting and the speeches.
As the crowd grew, 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.
The protesters sang and danced in the park at times. “This is not a party,” someone cried when things got festive.
They heard speeches. They kneeled. They chanted “Black Lives Matter” and then around 7 one group walked west on the sidewalk along 47th Street as a small bunch hung behind within sight of the J.C. Nichols Fountain.
They strode through the Plaza, with some remarking on the racist views of the man who built the shopping center a century ago. Then the group headed north on Main Street, west on 43rd Street and north on Broadway toward Westport.
The marchers blocked intersections to the annoyance of motorists. They took a knee outside Kelly’s Westport Inn and shouted at the bartenders to close for the night. But there was no violence as they marched on and darkness fell.
Days earlier, people were being arrested for stepping off the curb. On Thursday, there were no barricades to stop them from hiking up and down the streets. After two nights of relatively calm protesting, police had decided to ratchet down security measures.
Asked about the change in tactic, police department spokesman Sgt. Jake Becchina replied in an email that said: “We opened up the streets, and so there hasn’t been a need for officers near there to block things off. We are ready and able to respond to any issues that may arise.”
Told later that protesters were marching north in the southbound lanes of Main Street, Becchina said: “I hope they don’t get hurt.”
No one did apparently. And no protesters apparently were arrested on charges connected to the demonstration.
Police made 230 arrests during the first six nights of protests, but the number of people detained had been declining. Only four were taken into custody Wednesday, down from 25 the night before, according to Becchina.
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.
There were no signs of violence as protesters walked past those storefronts before dusk Thursday night.
Thursday’s march ended at 10:15 p.m. back at the Plaza. Protesters took one last moment of silence. And then a prayer.
One organizer said “we made a difference tonight.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 10:00 PM.
