Protesters march through downtown Columbia
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A group of about 50 protesters gathered at the Boone County Courthouse on Tuesday, holding signs and chanting things such as "No justice, no peace, prosecute the police."
The protest comes after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Protesters gathered in downtown Columbia for several days following Floyd's killing.
Kirubel Mesfin marched with the group Tuesday afternoon, and had protested the night before.
"I've been out here the past couple days because, obviously, the Black Lives Matter movement has been escalating a lot these past couple weeks because of everything," Mesfin said. "There was an analogy that we used yesterday when we were talking to everyone out here. If you have a series of houses and one of the houses is burning you can't say all the houses are in a good spot."
The group marched from the Boone County Courthouse through downtown wearing black attire, and ending the march at the Columbia Police Department.
Organizers came prepared with water to combat the heat during the march.
"We are here because we want to be peaceful, we want to keep everything peaceful. Obviously in other places in Missouri, in Kansas City it's escalated quite a bit," Mesfin said.
"We want to be a town that gets looked at when these history books get rewritten about this crazy year as a place that was peaceful, that protested the right way, that did the right thing."
Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones sent out a statement about protests Tuesday evening. He said the department supports the right to peacefully protests.
According to the statement, police will be stationed in different areas downtown Tuesday night to prevent the peaceful protest from escalating to violence.
He also asked protesters to avoid blocking roads after a large group of people blocked the intersection of Providence and Broadway Monday night, saying in part, "For the safety of both demonstrators and motorists, we are requesting individuals not block the intersection of the roads."
Two protesters were hit in the intersection by vehicles Monday within the span of an hour.
Overnight, Columbia Police Lieutenant Mike Hestir tweeted thanking the protesters for keeping things safe and productive. He added that the message is being heard because the protests have stayed peaceful.
