Photo courtesy Leonard McKenzie
Cadman Plaza saw a huge turnout on Thursday for a memorial rally for George Floyd, whose death last week at the hands of Minneapolis police has sparked ongoing protests against police brutality.
Mayor Bill de Blasio was not well received, as the crowd booed him while he spoke of a commitment to making police accountable and to honoring Black lives didn’t seem to satisfy the crowd.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams attacked the mayor and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and de Blasio’s statement saying that he sympathizes with the Floyd family.
De Blasio and Cuomo both said they had not seen widely shared videos of officers using batons on protesters who remained in Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza after the 8 p.m. curfew.
Cuomo said, “If you are violating the curfew and you refuse to leave so you continue to violate the curfew, the police officers have to enforce the law, which is: You’re supposed to off the street.”