Hundreds of protesters angry over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody turned out for demonstrations Friday in front of the Boone County Courthouse.
The rallies were quickly organized to add a local voice to national outrage over the incident.
After some speeches from residents and leaders in the community Friday evening, several hundred marchers strode the sidewalks from the courthouse through downtown — eventually circling their way past the Columbia Police Department station.
President of the Columbia chapter of the NAACP Mary Ratliff, who attended the evening rally, says she is glad to see "young people picking up the mantle" and thought they did a "wonderful job."
"For so long, we felt that we had worked so hard … to get us to where we are, that it felt like the mantle was being dropped," she said. "Today showed me that it wasn't, and so I'm real proud of that."
Organizers and speakers like Marcus Ferguson and Ellie Bonilla, who addressed the crowd and helped lead the march, were satisfied with the turnout. But Ferguson noted many still are aware of "the changes we all have to keep making with ourselves every day" and to "call your friends to action."
"So many diverse voices and so many people that heard the message that I think are gonna be inspired to do that work," Ferguson said hopefully. "Everybody shows up for the pep rally, right? But now it's like the grunt work."
Around 50 protesters attended an earlier demonstration at 11 a.m.
Bonilla, a local comedian, pushed for the event after seeing an announcement Thursday of the 4 p.m. ”CoMo for Justice March.” Organizers of that event supported her effort earlier in the day.
Families and individuals that could not attend the rally scheduled at 4 p.m., like Angie Cantin and her daughter Hannah, a junior at Rock Bridge High School, said the early rally gave them a space to support solidarity with those in the community.
"To be honest, with COVID and all, I probably wouldn't be out here," said Cantin. "But Hannah felt very passionate about being out here today."
"We all feel very upset. When I see young people like my daughter really wanna stand for what they feel is important and the injustices they've seen, I'm proud of that," Cantin said. "Young people especially inspire me."