George Floyd protests in Nebraska
This is a list of list of protests and unrests in the US state of Nebraska related to the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.
Locations
Alliance
On June 9, 2020, roughly 40 people attended a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Alliance. Many more residents of Alliance honked their cars in approval. The protestors held various signs in support of George Floyd, James Scurlock, and against police brutality more generally. The demonstrations are ongoing.Ashland
On June 13, 2020, more than 40 people marched from Sabre Heights neighborhood, on the west edge of Ashland, to the downtown. A rally was held on Silver Street, which was barricaded with permission from city government. One speaker told of her experiences with racism as a Chinese teenager in Ashland. Another discussed the power of voting in local elections.Bellevue
On May 31, a peaceful protest took place along the corner of N-370 and Galvin Road in Bellevue. Police officers joined the protesters arm in arm, with a Bellevue Police Department sergeant speaking out against corrupt officers.Chadron
In the northwest Nebraska town of Chadron, dozens of students and others voiced their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. The protesters carried signs and held a lie-in on June 3, 2020.Columbus
On June 2, 150 people gathered at 23rd Street and 33rd Avenue in Columbus to hold signs and chat to passing traffic. Organizer Ashley Rodriguez told the Columbus Telegram that her goal was to help people of color in Columbus, saying "I want to protect them as much as I can. I love everyone, but as of right now, Black lives matter." She was inspired by the protests she witnessed in Omaha and Lincoln, and her heartbreak over the killing of George Floyd. Locals donated pizza to protestors.Grand Island
A group estimated at 300 people marched towards Pioneer Park in the center of Grand Island, on June 1, 2020. Officials said that people in a passing car sprayed protesters with "a foul-smelling liquid that might have been urine."Harvard
An estimated 50 people, many of them students, and some young families, gathered June 2, 2020, in the center of Harvard, to protest the killing of George Floyd and to call attention to the work that needs to be done in their own community.Hastings
On Juneteenth, dozens came to Highland Park in Hastings to show support for Black Lives Matter. Speakers of color explained the history of the holiday, expressed a desire for more Black history to be taught in public schools, and related experiences of racism in central Nebraska. Demonstrators then marched along 14th Street to Burlington Avenue. Participants were asked to wear masks and not include profanity on signs.Kearney
On Saturday, May 30, people gathered near downtown Kearney to protest the death of George Floyd. The peaceful protesting continued with over 100 participants on Sunday, May 31, when protestors gathered at the Museum of Nebraska Art, marched to the main intersection of the town, and back. The May 31 protests included recognition of Omaha resident, James Scurlock, who was murdered at a protest in Omaha the previous night. Small groups of protestors continued to gather throughout the first week of June. Protests were ongoing as of June 8th, when 75 people demonstrated downtown in the afternoon.Lincoln
On the morning of Friday, May 29, people gathered at the State Capitol to protest. In the early morning hours of May 30, people gathered at around 27th and O Streets to protest. Eight police officers were injured with one requiring advanced medical treatment, several businesses and police vehicles were damaged. Tear gas and rubber bullets were used, and arrests were made.Police attacked a May 30 protest in front of the County-City Building. A teenaged protestor named Leo Celis was intentionally shot in the face by police while he was kneeling with his arms linked with other protestors. A projectile tore through Celis' right cheek, breaking bones in the face and blinding Celis in his right eye. Medics providing aid to Celis and others were also shot by police.
On May 31, police activated their full field force team for the first time since 2004. The field force team attacked protestors at intersection of 12th and H streets with tear gas, rubber bullets, and riot shields. Police shot protestors and medics in the head and face, including a teenage volunteer medic named Elise Poole who was shot in the face with a rubber bullet while attempting to aid a protestor incapacitated by tear gas. Doctors later told Poole her nose bones resembled "broken eggshells." Lincoln Journal-Star reporter Chris Dunker was tackled and detained by police while live-streaming. The reporter captured video of protestors extinguishing fires that hot police tear gas canisters had started in bushes near the Capitol Building.
On June 11, an estimated 600 people met near SouthPointe Pavilions, a shopping mall, to march on South 27th Street and though residential subdivisions. This was the first march in south Lincoln. People watched from their front lawns; some joined the march. Marchers carried a large banner reading "reparations" at the front of the march.
In early July, residences with Black Lives Matter yard signs found handwritten notes taped to the signs. The notes opposed Black Lives Matter and claimed the movement wanted to kill police. In response, one couple delivered letters to their neighbors offering dialogue about their sign. Another household posted the note in a Country Club neighborhood online discussion group, where it promoted a July 9 anti-racist march through the Country Club neighborhood.
Norfolk
About 300 people gathered peacefully in Norfolk on the weekend following the death of George Floyd. Dozens gathered again on 13th and Norfolk Avenue on June 3, 2020, to show solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement and to protest the death of Floyd and the fatal shooting of James Scurlock in Omaha.North Platte
An estimated 500 people gathered on the afternoon of June 7 at a church on the outskirts of North Platte. Demonstrators traveled the city streets, calling their march a "peace walk". A local printer made 50 anti-racist signs to hand out to protestors; others carried homemade signs.Oakland
About 50 protestors gathered in the city park of Oakland, Nebraska on June 9th, 2020, to draw attention to the problem of continued racism in the United States. The protest was organized by a young woman from the nearby town of Craig.Omaha
Thousands of people protested on Friday, May 29 outside Crossroads Mall in West Omaha. Protests were peaceful until Omaha Police fired tear gas at protestors at 8:00pm. Deputy Chief Ken Kanger stated that protestors were still peaceful as of 9:45 p.m A small number of people broke the law, and 18 arrests were made due to failure to disperse. Police confined protestors in a parking lot and fired pepper balls at them because they were yelling. The protesters relocated downtown and quickly became a riot, damaging several buildings throughout the night. Some protesters threw objects such as shoes and water bottles at police. At one point protesters surrounded a police vehicle. Two officers were injured during the riots. Tear gas and pepper balls were used.A man named Adam Keup traveled from Council Bluffs with his husband on May 29 to take photographs of the Crossroads protest. The couple did not bring signs or yell, but worked to document the events at a distance. Within 15 minutes of arrival they were shot without warning by police with pepper balls fired from a paintball gun. One projectile struck Keup in the eye, blinding him, likely permanently. Targeting the head is a violation of the Omaha Police Department policies and procedures manual.
Around midnight on Saturday, May 30, Jacob Gardner, a white bar owner in the Old Market, pointed a gun at protestors and killed James Scurlock, a 22-year-old black activist, after Scurlock attempted to tackle Gardner. The Douglas County Attorney's Office declined to press charges against Gardner. County Attorney Don Kleine called the shooting of James Scurlock "senseless, but justified." Outrage about the shooting and the lack of criminal charges was covered by the press nationwide.
On Sunday, Mayor Jean Stothert issued a strict city-wide curfew from 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM through June 3. On Monday, June 1, demonstrations began peacefully in downtown Omaha. Police began arresting people on charges of breaking curfew, including KMTV journalist, Jon Kipper, and two women as they were walking to their car.
June 5 was the third anniversary of the killing by police of Zachary Bear Heels, a member of the Rosebud Lakota Tribe. Hundreds retraced Bear Heels' final steps, a 4 mile walk from the Greyhound bus station to 60th and Center Streets, where a rally was held denouncing police violence.
On July 11, in response to ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, a "Back the Blue" counterprotest was held in Memorial Park. Police officers and their supporters attended, including a contingent of Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group. Some Black Lives Matter protestors also attended to show their objection to the rally.
On July 19, an estimated 125 protesters gathered outside Omaha Police Headquarters for a "Bloody Sunday" protest objecting to the adverse effects of tear gas on mensuration and pregnancy. Police on horseback and in riot gear were present. Protestors went on a march that included visiting the site of the murder of James Scurlock.
On July 25, people in Omaha protested in support of ongoing George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon. Police arrested approximately 120 protestors near 28th and Farnam Streets. Protestors committed no violence or vandalism. Police kettled protestors on a bridge, preventing the crowd from dispersing, yet arrested people for failure to disperse. Others would be "arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest" according to a journalist. Police fired pepper balls into the trapped crowd. Among the people detained were a legal observer, medics, and media, including journalist Jazari Kual, who described the protestors as trapped by police on a bridge with nowhere to go while the police fired pepper balls. Protestors were held in a crowded jail cells without knowing when they would be released. Protestors remained in jail for up to a day with limited water and bathroom access.
On the morning of August 1, 40 people wrote messages such as "defund the police" on the sidewalks around Omaha Police Department headquarters with sidewalk chalk. In the afternoon, protestors marched in West Omaha with more than 50 signs, each naming one person killed by police in Omaha.