Protest, march weaves through downtown Bellingham, neighborhoods Saturday
Around 200 people marched Saturday, July 25, in a protest against the presence of federal law enforcement officers in Portland, Oregon, that wove its way through Bellingham, and included rallies downtown, at the Bellingham Police station and City Hall.
The march was in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and in support of defunding the police.
Saturday marks the two-month anniversary of the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. His death sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism and calls for police reform.
The march on Saturday started at noon in downtown Bellingham with a rally in the alley behind the Herald building near the Bellingham Farmers Market. People gathered with signs that had slogans on them such as “Little green men out of Portland,” “Ctrl Alt Delete Police,” “Defund white supremacy,” “Color is not a crime,” “Defund, demilitarize, justice” and “white silence is violence.”
A woman in the crowd held a framed photograph of Breonna Taylor, who was a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician who was fatally shot by officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department when they executed a no-knock warrant on her apartment on March 13. Another person had a large banner, propped up by bamboo poles, that read “Fund care not cops” on one side, and “How fascist is too fascist?” on the other.
The march made its way through downtown down Railroad Avenue, before moving to North State Street and heading down James Street through the Sunnyland neighborhood. It was the first time since local protests began in late May that a protest that started downtown moved out of the area and through the surrounding neighborhoods.
A drum circle with several people, including trumpet and saxophone players, kept the pace for the marchers. People on bicycles and lead and follow cars helped block intersections, direct traffic and keep the group safe.
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At the back of the line, there were several incidents as the march made its way down James Street and through the Sunnyland neighborhood heading toward the Lettered Streets neighborhood where cars, and one motorcycle, refused to turn. A handful of protesters and follow cars stayed behind until the drivers decided to turn. The group worked to deescalate the situations.
The marchers made their way through the Lettered Streets neighborhood where they rallied at the Bellingham Police Department station at 505 Grand Ave. The group chanted things like “No cops, no KKK, no fascist USA,” “What do we want, what do we need, reinvest in community” and “Who do you protect, who do you serve.”
A protester dressed in all black tried to scale the left side of the police station, but several protesters pulled that person down and stood in the way of them trying to climb the building. A male Bellingham police officer came outside onto a walkway that is about halfway up the building. The officer was filming the protester who tried to climb the wall, and those who were trying to stop that protester.
The crowd then began yelling at the officer to quit his job, and booed when he made a phone call before going back inside. This was the first time a uniformed police officer was present at any of the recent protests in Bellingham.
After that, another protester dressed in all black cut the Washington state and American flags down that were flying in front of the police station and lit them on fire. This is the second time that an American flag has been burned since protests began in Bellingham. Another protester later tried to spray paint the building, but the crowd stopped them.
The group rallied at the police station for a while later before making their way to City Hall, where they took an 8 minute and 46 second moment of silence in honor of the amount of time George Floyd had the white police officer’s knee on his neck.
After the moment of silence, a person of color stood up and thanked the crowd for coming out and for standing up. Several people stayed behind to chalk the steps of City Hall.
This story was originally published July 25, 2020 at 5:43 PM.
