Small Group Gathers Downtown For Friday Evening Demonstration

8 p.m.

People sat with their signs, but there was no chanting or marching on Friday evening.
On busier nights, Pheonix Smith uses his motorcycle to help direct traffic for marchers, but tonight he hangs off to the side.

He says people are recuperating for larger events planned over the weekend. He says the typical turnout for demonstrations has left him hopeful.

“Right now one man’s death ignited a fight that’s not just going nationwide, but all across the world,” Smith says. “People are standing united.”

Tomorrow afternoon there’s a celebration of life planned for Dreasjon Reed north of downtown. Organizers expect a large turnout.

7:30 p.m.

Sitting on the Monument Circle steps, Rami Woodruff says as a Chinese-American it's important to come out and support another minority.

"I know there's a lot of xenophobia in the Chinese-American community, and I think that it would be so beneficial for Chinese-Americans to realize that even though we are, you know, labeled a lot of times the model minority, we do share a lot of the same issues and we can relate to the black community in a lot of different ways," says Woodruff says.

Woodruff says she's happy that there has been some positive changes made since the protests started, but it's important to keep the movement going for the black community.

7 p.m.

Despite the lack of an officially organized event, around two dozen people sit at the circle.

A few more people have arrived with signs and are sitting on the steps. pic.twitter.com/oQ59mGfniU

— Samantha Horton (@SamHorton5) June 12, 2020

Many hold signs as they chat with friends; others sit silently. Danielle Diedrich, 21, decided to come out to keep showing her support to the protest movement.

“It’s a good reminder so people driving by on their everyday routine see that this problem isn’t going to disappear,” Diedrich says. “People need to keep thinking about it and acting on it.”

6:30 p.m.

As a nearby church clock rings, people gather with signs at Monument Circle for a 15th evening of demonstrations against police brutality.

Alexandria Edington has shown up almost every night since the protests started in Indianapolis. She says she’s providing protection and bringing medical supplies to those in need.

"As a white person, I feel like it's really important for white people to show up and help amplify the voices of the black community and to just help protect them and … help them get their demands met that they need,” she says. “Because they have a lot of injustice going at them and I think it's really important that they are heard and understood and things are corrected for them."

Edington says she'll continue to show up to support the black community and demand change.

6 p.m.

A handful of people are gathered at the intersection of 27th and Doctor M.L.K. Jr. Street near a Family Dollar store. A man was recently killed while waiting for the bus nearby.

The focus of the protest is to draw attention to crime within black communities.

Zion Smith, an organizer with Indy10 Black Lives Matter, says that issue is worth highlighting alongside police brutality and injustice.

He says it goes back to economic disparity within black communities.

Friday marked two weeks since protests first began downtown, and this week several of the demands of groups like Indy 10 Black Lives Matter were met by the city and police department.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department released the name of the officer who fatally shot Dreasjon "Sean" Reed– a death that has rallied many in Indianapolis. It also identified the officer disciplined for making an inappropriate comment at the scene, which was captured on Reed's Facebook Live video.

On May 6, Reed fled officers in a vehicle and then on foot. Police say he fired at officers and they returned fire. Dejoure Mercer was named as the officer who shot and killed Reed, and Steven Scott the officer who made a comment referencing a closed-casket funeral.

Reed's family has said they don't trust the way the city or police department has reviewed the case.

City and police officials are also reviewing and rewriting the police department’s use of force policy – another demand from protestors. A special prosecutor has also been assigned to review the shooting.

Protestors are asking that the officers involved in the Reed shooting be "charged with murder" and their pensions revoked. They also want the coroner's report to be made public, among other demands.

On Friday, police also released the names of four officers involved in shooting 19-year-old McHale Rose on May 7.