Merrick
HERALD Meet the school board candiates
local teen makes care packages
Basketball drills go virtual
Pages 6, 7 and 10
Page 14
Page 16
Vol. 23 No. 23
JUNE 4 - 10, 2020
Hundreds call for justice for George Floyd Centre, was among the sponsors of the local protest. Bellmore resident and John F. Kennedy High School graduate Julia sbrinton@liherald.com Levine, a co-leader of Indivisible A coalition of Nassau County L.I., attended the rally, and handadvocacy groups organized a ed out fliers with phone numprotest, “Justice for George bers for protesters to text and Floyd,” outside the Theodore show their support. Roosevelt Executive and Legisla“This has to change — how tive Building in many more people Mineola on Monwill die?” Levine day. Nearly an hour said. “I want to before the schedmake an actual difuled 5:30 p.m. start ference.” time, people started Through Indito stream into the visible L.I., Levine demonstration, prosaid she hoped to testing the killing motivate a younger of Floyd by a Mingeneration of Long neapolis police offiIslanders to be cer. politically active. Shouting “I can’t “Through gaining breathe!” and branpolitical activity in dishing handmade my community signs, they arrived and generation,” from across the she said, “I’m hopcounty and beyond. KArEN lEViNE ing we can be more T h e p l a n n e d Bellmore-Merrick aware of our probdemonstration follems and act on Democratic Club lowed the Memorithem immediately, al Day death of instead of reacting Floyd, 46, an African-American after the fact.” man who died after a Minneapo“We felt if we don’t make a lis police officer, Derek Chauvin, statement, nothing is going to 44, pressed his knee into Floyd’s change,” said Julia’s mother, neck for more than eight min- Karen Levine, a member of the utes before he stopped speaking Bellmore-Merrick Democratic or moving. Club, which co-sponsored the According to authorities, event. “We have to get the mesM i n n e a p o l i s p o l i c e w e r e sage out that enough is enough.” responding to a report of a man “There’s an opportunity now attempting to pass a counterfeit that [George Floyd] didn’t die in $20 bill at a local shop. vain,” said Claudia Borecky, the Indivisible Long Island, forContinued on page 3 merly Indivisible of Rockville
By Scott BriNtoN, ANdrEw GArciA, dArwiN YANES and roNNY rEYES
Scott Brinton/Herald Life
MorE thAN 150 protesters came to Merrick Road in Merrick on Tuesday to send a message that “black lives matter.” Among them were this mother and child.
Tense protest ends peacefully in Merrick By Scott BriNtoN sbrinton@liherald.com
What started as a trickle of protesters lining up at 6 p.m. Tuesday in front of the Trader Joe’s on Merrick Road, in Merrick, quickly grew to a mass of more than 150, who prayed, chanted and shouted George Floyd’s name at passing cars, many of which honked back in response. “Black lives matter! Black lives matter!” they repeated in unison, along with, “No justice, no peace!”
Then the demonstrators, brandishing only cardboard signs, decided to move. That was when Nassau County police intervened to stop them, forming a wall of blue two rows deep across the sidewalk outside a Wendy’s to prevent them from moving. The protesters pleaded with police to let them pass, but the officers would not move. Many protesters knelt o n t h e p av e m e n t a n d implored police to join them. Still, the officers wouldn’t
move. The protesters g rew increasingly agitated, believing they were being prevented from exercising their right to free assembly. They were not, however. The police were waiting for more officers to arrive so they could form a human barrier between the protesters and a group of about 30 people who stood on the sidewalk roughly 150 feet away, shouting, “Tell them to go home!” Continued on page 4
w
e felt if we don’t make a statement, nothing is going to change. We have to get the message out that enough is enough.