CHICO — For the third day in a row, protesters made their voices heard in downtown Chico.
Thursday afternoon’s gathering for the Black Lives Matters protest drew the largest crowd yet with upwards of 600 people marching and chanting around City Plaza at its height.
By 5 p.m., more than 200 had gathered. The crowd would soon double and then triple within the hour.
Third straight day of #BlackLivesMatter protests in Chico right now. Larger crowd today than at th is time yesterday @ChicoER pic.twitter.com/TwxemAKss9
— Natalie Hanson (@nhanson_reports) June 4, 2020
Along with using similar demonstrations as the last two days, protesters chanted the names of George Floyd, Desmond Phillips and Breanna Taylor, each of whom were killed during encounters with police officers.
Around 5:20 p.m., the crowd also knelt for one minute in honor of Floyd before marching around the City Plaza. Protesters would circle the plaza regularly over the next few hours.
Mechoopda tribe member Johnnie Vigil protested for his third time this week, hoping to further “inspire and bring people together.”
“It keeps gaining momentum, more and more people are coming out,” he said.
Vigil said he expects Friday’s protest to be even larger, given that Philip’s father David Phillips is expected to attend.
Tashia Jones said this was her second day of protesting.
“It’s going pretty well,” she said.
She added it was “really awesome” to see a group come to the plaza every day despite cancellations Tuesday by the original organizers.
Remembering Tuesday’s protest, she said it was surprising that “We turned our backs on the cops, walked away. When we turned they were walking with us.”
Chico police had no clear presence Wednesday or Thursday despite as many as 14 officers standing nearby Tuesday.
But once again, local police, and law enforcement in general, garnered the ire of protesters as attendees repeatedly cursed and chanted derogatory terms when speaking about them.
Several members of the Wednesday and Thursday protests played the role of “security.”
Rain Scher frequently walked the City Plaza both days, ensuring that “suspicious-looking” individuals were accounted for and protesters stayed off the street as a few cars drove by at high speeds.
“There are people driving by who are circling, mean-mugging and yelling the ‘n’ word,” she said.
Scher and others also offered car rides at the end of both days.
Thursday’s protests concluded just before 8 p.m. with the playing of Sam Cooke’s song “A Change Is Gonna Come,” a demonstration seen Wednesday as well.
Protest concludes after the playing of Sam Cooke’s 1964 song “A Change Is Gonna Come.” pic.twitter.com/RwKk7cKG0W
— Mathew Miranda (@mathewjmiranda) June 5, 2020
Chico High School senior Lucinda Law, who graduated 15 minutes earlier, arrived in time for the song.
Wearing a cap with the words “Make Peace Prevail,” she held her fist up high along with hundreds who had spent hours chanting and holding signs.
“There’s no way I could walk by and not join them,” Law said.
Protesters are expected to meet up again at 5 p.m. Friday at the City Plaza.
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June 05, 2020 at 06:32PM
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Third day of protesting draws largest crowd yet - Chico Enterprise-Record
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