[This year's news cycle was a vicious one, and left little time for reflection. As 2020 nears its end, we're taking the opportunity to look back on the most important Mercury stories written during the past year. This article was originally published on May 29, 2020. We hope you'll consider making a monthly contribution to the Mercury to help continue our work into next year and beyond.—eds.]
More than a thousand Portlanders gathered in Peninsula Park Friday evening to memorialize George Floyd, the Black Minneapolis man who died Monday after an officer kneeled on his neck, cutting off his airway.
"Where was the threat of danger?" Pastor Roy Tate asked the crowd, referring to Floyd's final moments. In a video taken of the encounter, Floyd is handcuffed, face down on the ground as Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck.
"There was none," he continued. "They just killed another Black man. So what do we want? Justice!"
Tate was joined by dozens of other Portlanders of color on the park pavilion stage to decry Floyd's death and call for an end to police brutality against Black Americans. The megaphone was passed between school teachers, community activists, teenagers, religious leaders, and parents over the course of three hours (organizers sanitized the megaphone between each speaker).
