‘Take a stand.’ Protesters march in downtown Richmond, demand justice.

Protesters gathered and marched in downtown Richmond on Saturday, speaking out against police brutality and institutional racism following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

“This is something we’ve been planning for some years now,” said Zakia Holland, one of the organizers of Saturday’s protest. “We marched for Trayvon Martin when we were 12 and now we’re 19 and organizing our own protests.”

The protest began at the Madison County Public Library. Demonstrators marched from the library down West Main St. to the Madison County Courthouse. There, several guests speakers addressed the crowd, including Richmond Mayor Robert Blythe.

Walt Ecton was among the protesters at the courthouse. Ecton, who has lived in Richmond for about 40 years, said he was at the demonstration because he thinks an “adjustment” needs to be made.

“I think that there’s an attitude that’s being protested today that needs support,” Ecton said. “I hope [the protesters] feel empowered. I hope they feel some relief because I know there is a lot of pain.

Saturday’s protest in Richmond comes after days of protests in Lexington and Louisville, as well as continuing demonstrations across the state and nation. On Friday — which would have been Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday — protesters marched in Frankfort, and on Saturday a protest similar to Richmond’s was held in Danville.

Taylor’s death in Louisville and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis have sparked more than a week of protests in large and small communities calling for greater police accountability.

Mark Anderson, a demonstrator and resident of Richmond, said he would like to see the “playing field to be equal” for all Americans, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, and said the protest on Saturday was “a good first step” toward that.

“It’s really sad it’s taken this long — it’s heartbreaking,” Anderson said. “No lives matter ‘til black lives matter.”

In his community, Anderson said he would like to see more responsibility from community members in reporting injustice.

“Take a stand when you hear something racist or sexist or anything against a group of people,” Anderson said. “I think that most people only harbor resentment because they don’t know any better.”

James Ebert, chief of the Richmond Police Department, was out marching with the crowd on Saturday. Ebert said he was compelled to march with the demonstrators because it is his job as a law enforcement officer to represent the community.

“I’ve got a very young department who are very supportive of hearing all aspects of the community,” Ebert said. “This is a good opportunity for them to see different aspects of the community that they may not deal with everyday.”

This story was originally published June 6, 2020 at 5:01 PM.