A demonstrator stands in front of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Police Department during a peaceful protest against police brutality and racism, in West Hollywood, California on June 6. Apu Gomes / AFP / Getty Images
It was past midnight in New York and Washington, DC, and night in Los Angeles, but large crowds were still on the streets in both cities, and the spirits were high.
In New York, protesters march through Greenwich Village in downtown Manhattan. The curfew is at 8 pm, but tonight there are not many police, and the police have not imposed a curfew with arrests like earlier this week.
The protesters have been lining up for hours now. Some organizers and leaders remain enthusiastic about singing calls and responses such as, “Don’t get involved, we are united, we are peaceful” and “United, people will never be defeated.”
“The system will not win,” a protester told CNN. “People have a voice now and they listen to us. They listen to us because we are united. They listen to us because things like this happen in the middle of Manhattan, where thousands upon thousands of people don’t have to let injustice happen again.”
In Washington, DC, a big crowd tonight – perhaps the biggest since they started, CNN correspondent Alex Marquadt said at the scene.
The curfew was lifted earlier this week, and protests remained peaceful. People gathered at the edge of Lafayette Park, close to the White House, taking photos with a new road sign that read “Black Lives Matter Plaza.”
There are several law enforcement members and National Guard forces in sight – but no one approached the aggressive figures seen earlier this week, Marquadt said.
In Los Angeles, the curfew has also been lifted and the protest remains peaceful, with a bright mood tonight.
The demonstrators, numbering at least 1,000, varied, said CNN reporter Lucy Kafanov at the scene. He described seeing “members of the Asian community, the Latin community, white people, black people, LGBTQ, everyone.”
“The vibrations of the community are really famous,” he said. “There are many people who go around distributing snacks, masks, hand sanitizers, food for the demonstrators … One of the beautiful things on the human level that we see is, as they pass through various apartment buildings, people come out to their balconies, starting clap pots and pans in protest solidarity. “
