Kankakee Times

Residents recently took to the streets in the Kankakee-Bradley-Bourbonnais metro region to protest the police killing of an unarmed black man in Minnesota.

A diverse crowd of approximately 200 marched across the area in memory of George Floyd, the Daily Journal reported on June 1, who died while in custody at the hands of a now-former Minneapolis police officer while three others observed. The May 25 incident, which was captured on video, has since sparked outrage, demonstrations and even violence at times across the country.

In Kankakee, many of the protesters appeared to be in their late teens to mid-30s, the Daily Journal reported. In addition to the Floyd killing, the demonstrations are being heralded as a snapshot of the growing level of frustrations many feel with what they see as out-of-control police injustice and systemic racism in many public institutions.

“She needs to see this,” Jonathan Burt, who marched with his 6-year-old daughter Justice, told the Daily Journal. “You have to stand up for other people. We are trying to change things so she doesn’t have to do this.”

While some demonstrations across the country have turned violent, with looting and property damage, the march in Kankakee remained peaceful, even as protesters at one point brought traffic to a virtual standstill, the Daily Journal reported.

“If you are not part of the change, you are part of the problem,” 18-year-old organizer Timothy Harris of Bourbonnais told the Daily Journal. “Our justice system is hurting black people. Now we have a platform to be heard, to institute change. ... We can’t be quiet anymore.”

At one point, protesters laid down on their chests with their hands behind their backs as if they were restrained with handcuffs while shouting “Black Lives Matter," the Daily Journal reported

Through it all, fellow organizer Travis Miller of Kankakee vowed things will remain peaceful even as the demonstrations continue.

“We will absolutely not riot,” he told the Daily Journal. “This has been peaceful.”