For the fifteenth consecutive day, hundreds of people across South Florida are marching across the region in ongoing support of the Black Lives Matter movement and for calls to defund the police.
For the fifteenth consecutive day, hundreds of people across South Florida are marching across the region in ongoing support of the Black Lives Matter movement and for calls to defund the police.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Torch of Friendship in Downtown Miami on Saturday before marching throughout the city.
The protest stayed peaceful, but the large crowd caused Miami Police to temporarily close I-95 in both directions before reopening it an hour later.
Miami Beach Police also shut down the Julia Tuttle Causeway for a portion of the day as a precaution.
Later in the afternoon, traffic was brought to a standstill outside Panther Coffee in Wynwood when the group arrived to the area. Protesters were seen sitting across the road with signs laid on the ground.
The group sat for 8 minutes and 46 seconds - the length of time a former Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on George Floyd's neck, killing him.
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Floyd's death at the hands of police was the catalyst for nationwide protests that have occurred every day for over two weeks.
For one protester, the cause was more personal.
Roy Odonez's brother, Frank Ordonez, was the UPS driver who was shot and killed during a shootout between police and two suspects who were holding Frank hostage.
It's been six months since the incident, and Roy says he's heard nothing from police about officers being held accountable.
"I haven’t heard anything from the police, what’s gonna happen, if there’s gonna be any charges filed, who’s gonna be arrested, nothing," Odonez said. "They haven’t told us anything, and I’m here protesting mostly for my brother, so there can be justice and his name cannot be forgotten."
Further north, in Pompano Beach, dozens of protesters held signs and chanted outside E. Pat Larkins Community Center.
The group said they would protest for as long as it took to get their message across, and see “real change”.
"We matter, and we strive for equality cause we’re people as well," protester Ashleigh Clark said.
In Pembroke Pines, protesters marched from the city's police department to city hall, where individual people took turns sharing their experiences with racism.
Across the country, protests and, in some cases, acts of vandalism have continued to take place in such cities as Boston; New York; Paris; Brussels; and Oxford, England, in an intense re-examination of racial injustices over the centuries.
