Local police in Flint, Michigan, walked alongside demonstrators protesting the killing of George Floyd, showing solidarity with the African American community outraged with mistreatment of minorities by law enforcement.
“Don’t think for a second that he represents who these cops are,” Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson told a group of demonstrators on Saturday, referring to former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was captured on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck.
Chauvin has been charged with murder. Floyd’s killing has sparked massive protests across the nation.
In Flint, local media reported a small group of fewer than 10 people Saturday night grew to hundreds as demonstrators marched to the Flint Township Police Department.
Protesters were met by Swanson and his officers in riot gear when they arrived at the station.
“We want to be with y’all for real,” Swanson told the group. “So I took the helmet off, I laid the batons down, I want to make this a parade. … You tell us what you need us to do.”
The crowd erupted in cheers of, “Walk with us.”
“This is the way it’s supposed to be — the police working with the community,” Swanson told MLive.com. “When we see injustice, we call it out on the police side and on the community side. All we had to do was talk to them, and now we’re walking with them. … The cops in this community, we condemn what happened. That guy (Chauvin) is not one of us.”
In MY city FLINT, MICHIGAN. This is how the protest went with the sheriff @RonHilliardTV recorded this live pic.twitter.com/gNAUj6Ijp3
— Ant (@AntWuzHere) May 31, 2020
