FARGO — Roughly 100 Black Lives Matter protesters marched from Island Park in downtown Fargo to the Fargo Police Station on 25th Street North on Saturday morning, Sept. 26.
The group congregated in response to a Kentucky grand jury's decision not to charge any of the three police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor. One of the officers, Brett Hankison, was indicted on charges of wanton endangerment.
Taylor was shot and killed in her Louisville home while the officers were executing a now-outlawed no-knock warrant in connection to a drug trafficking investigation.
Organizer Faith Shields-Dixon demanded that transcripts from the grand jury's indictment be released, mirroring calls from Ben Crump , the civil rights attorney representing Taylor's family.
Black Lives Matter organizers and protesters assembled around 10 a.m. at the north end of Island Park along First Avenue North. Organizers as well as a local minister delivered speeches before protesters left the park roughly 30 minutes later.
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Organizers asked marchers to "be peaceful" and "honor these people who have died or been lost in the system."
The group, carrying signs and chanting, traveled west along First Avenue North before turning north on 15th Street South and continuing west on Main Avenue. Protesters slowed traffic in the westbound lane, prompting numerous motorists to use side streets to avoid the marchers.
Organizers delivered anti-police remarks for approximately a half-hour before marching back to Island Park. Police officers did not engage the protesters at any point, however a smattering of officers were parked in idling squad cars around the building.
Organizers at the police station, including Shields-Dixon and Jamaal Abegaz, levied accusations against the police department and Fargo mayor Tim Mahoney, while also calling on attendees to make their voices heard at Fargo City Commission meetings. Abegaz gave a particularly impassioned speech which drew several rounds of applause from the crowd.
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A handful of motorists driving along 25th Street North seemingly voiced their displeasure with the demonstration by revving their engines to drown out the speakers. One passenger was seen raising a middle-finger at the group, while a woman driving a car with a flag in support of President Donald Trump drew an especially harsh reaction from those in attendance.
At approximately 11:45 a.m., protesters marched back to Island Park in the eastbound lane of Main Avenue.
