With helicopters hovering overhead and police directing traffic, hundreds of demonstrators marched from the Florida A&M University Law Center to the Amway Center holding signs that read "Indict the system," and "Black lives matter."
Krystal Brown was one of dozens that staged a “die-in” in front of the Amway Center. She held a photo of her husband, Marlon Brown, who was killed in DeLand last September when an officer ran him over with a police car—on tape.
“It’s very, very hard when you have the evidence in front of you, but you’re being told that you don’t see what you see. It says the system is definitely unfair. It’s not equal, and that definitely needs to be changed,” she said.
The officer was not charged in killing Brown's husband, and she is still working with an attorney to seek vindication. She believes the justice system should be changed.
“It needs to be definitely more transparency, and there needs to be more accountability, and then there needs to be accountability when those that we have in positions to hold people accountable aren’t doing their jobs.”
Activist Miguel Adams, part of a movement called "End the New Jim Crow," called police brutality a symptom of a problem that only education will solve. He and his colleagues have started teaching young people about the legal system.
“We want to show and teach our young people of all races that life matters. All life matters. It’s not just black and brown lives that matter. All life matters,” he said.
This was the third major demonstration held in Orlando within the past two weeks. Protest organizers say they are planning more actions, as part of a nationwide effort to tackle racial profiling and police brutality.
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