Update, May 30: This story has been updated to include more information about the South Florida protests.
Cities across the country are demonstrating collective pain and anger over the killing of a black man by Minneapolis police on Monday.
Protests, rallies, and vigils for George Floyd — the 46-year-old father who died after an officer dug his knee into Floyd's neck — have emerged everywhere from California to New York.
Community activists and social justice groups in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are planning protests this weekend.
Southeast Save the Kids, an organization that works to end the incarceration of youth, is organizing a protest Saturday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Torch of Friendship at 301 Biscayne Blvd. in downtown Miami. Organizers ask those attending to wear masks.
A newly created Instagram page called Protests Miami shared information about another protest happening Saturday at 375 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The Coral Gables protest will honor Floyd; Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who was chased down and shot by two white men in southeast Georgia; Eric Garner, a black man who died after New York Police Department officers placed him in a chokehold and took him to the ground; Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri; Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy who was shot and killed by a police officer in Cleveland, Ohio; Sandra Bland, a civil rights activist who died in a Texas jail; and "all the black and brown lives that matter."
Some activists have criticized the Gables protest organizers for not affiliating themselves with local organizations and for inviting police to attend. The organizers say police were invited "to answer our questions and have an open dialogue with us."
On Sunday, Miami Dream Defenders is organizing a protest at 3 p.m. at 1328 NW 3rd Ave. in Overtown.
Up in Broward County, local chapters of Dream Defenders, Black Lives Matter Alliance, and the Democratic Socialists of America are also planning a protest demanding justice for Floyd at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, 3800 NW 11th Place. Organizers remind anyone who wishes to participate in the protest to wear masks and be mindful of their distance.
For anyone who wants to be involved but can't attend an in-person protest, Dream Defenders shared several calls to action, including donating to the Floyd family's memorial fund and following social justice accounts.
The Broward protest also seeks justice for Tony McDade, a black transgender man who was killed by a Tallahassee police officer on Wednesday. The Tallahassee Democrat reports that McDade allegedly stabbed and killed a man. Before the stabbing, McDade posted a video on Facebook swearing revenge on a group of men who attacked him the day before and saying there would be a standoff with police, the newspaper reports.????Donate to Northstar Health Collective: https://t.co/dGkF5pVyDw
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David J. Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, urged people to push the Tallahassee Police Department for a full investigation of McDade's death.
"We don't know a lot of the details around Tony's death, or how police became involved. We do know that Tony should not have been killed," Johns said in a statement last night. "We must work together to raise awareness about the unique challenges that Black LGBTQ/SGL people face. It is important to highlight the too often ignored violence that members of our community face in addition to the discrimination we may experience because we are Black."
