A crowd of approximately 100 residents of the Kenai Peninsula gathered in Soldotna at the Wednesday Market on Wednesday afternoon. Their aim was to show solidarity against police violence, in response to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
Spencer Crawford, who helped organize the event, said that he is proud of the turnout for those supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement as well as the overall sentiment against abusive police violence: “Just because racial injustice and police brutality isn’t a problem here doesn’t mean that it’s not a problem. Us, as American citizens, need to stand up for #BlackLivesMatter. Seeing this many people come with me today, come with us today, for this movement – it’s extremely heartwarming and energetic to see. If more injustices and more unjust killings happen, I’m willing to come out here and do it again. I’ll do what it takes.”
He also feels that protests of this nature are an opportunity for residents to learn the power they have to influence society: “I hope that our leaders realize that we, the people, we have a voice. We can organize. This is our right to assemble. We can come out here and we can vocalize what we believe in and hopefully they’ll listen. I wanna do what it takes to better my small community because I feel, since I live here, I care – and I think others should care with me, as well.”
Governor Mike Dunleavy supports the idea of protesting, but wants people to be careful: “People absolutely have the right to protest. This is America. What occurred in Minneapolis with Mr. Floyd, we all know it was terrible. We see a lot of protests down south. Health officials are concerned that it’s going to increase the spread [of COVID-19]. When we have protests or get-togethers in Alaska, we just want to be cognizant of that, of each other. There’s no reason you can’t have a protest and also think of others as you’re part of that.”
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer who was initially charged with third-degree murder following the killing, saw his charges elevated to second-degree murder on Wednesday. Three other now-former officers who were present at the scene have been charged with aiding-and-abetting a murder.
