The Black Lives Matter protesters on the stairs of the Morgantown’s public safety building Friday afternoon are the reason Luther Gibson Jr. joined the Marine Corps.
“So I passed ’em and I blew the horn and then I was going home, back out to where I live and I got about a third way up out of town and I said, ‘wait a minute, I’m gonna go back and stand with ’em and support them,” the 62-year-old said. “Because what they’re doing is right.”
The group was there because black lives matter and to protest against police brutality, Sammantha Norris said.
The protest was about more than just justice for George Floyd, who was killed by Derek Chauvin — then a Minneapolis, Minn., police officer now charged with third degree murder and manslaughter after multiple days of protesting.
It’s about standing up for every black American who has ever been afraid of the police, everyone who has been stopped for having the wrong color skin and implementing wide-spread police reform and training, Norris said.
Norris is biracial and said cops only see her as black, despite her light skin privilege.
“I’ve experienced the black experience because cops only see me as black,” Norris said. “And I’m tired of seeing my fellow brothers and sisters scared of their lives. I’m tired of wondering, if I have children in the future, are cops going to murder them for being black.”
The group will also be gathering at 10 a.m. on Tuesday in front of the Monongalia County Courthouse.
Norris said the Morgantown Police Department, which makes its home in the public safety building, mostly ignored the protestors.
One officer said he supported the protestors but wouldn’t join them.
“If you’re silent in the face of oppression, then that’s saying a lot.”
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