LOCAL

'It is us that are dying day in and day out': Jayland Walker case prompts protests

Tawney Beans
Akron Beacon Journal
Protesters make their voices heard Tuesday during a march from First Congregational Church of Akron to the John F. Seiberling Federal Building in Akron.

Community members marched through downtown Akron on Tuesday, the day after it was announced that a special grand jury decided the eight Akron police officers involved in the killing of Jayland Walker last summer will not be criminally charged.

The Justice for Jayland Walker March was organized by The Freedom BLOC, Akron NAACP, Akron Urban League and St. Ashworth Temple Church of God in Christ. Demonstrators gathered at First Congregational Church of Akron, 292 E. Market St., before stepping off around 2:40 p.m., chanting, "Whose streets? Our streets!"

"The city has been rocked to its core," said the Rev. Nanette Pitt, senior pastor at First Congregational Church of Akron. "Anger and lament are righteous and holy. They are a part of our tradition. And we should lament. We should seek justice and never rest until it is found. And so this day, we come together as a diverse, broad, wide community to continue that struggle, to continue that work."

An Ohio State Highway Patrol helicopter hovered above the group of about 80 people, most of whom were sporting hoodies, coats and hats because of the cold weather.

A demonstrator carries a firearm for security during a march Tuesday from First Congregational Church of Akron to the Federal Building in downtown Akron.

Protesters marched west on East Market Street until they reached the John F. Seiberling Federal Building downtown. Due to event organizers' use of vehicles and civilian marshals, protesters were kept to one side of the street during the march, allowing vehicle traffic to travel east on East Market Street. The Fred Hampton Gun Club served as security for the Walker family, which included Jayland's mother, Pamela, and demonstrators.

Speakers at the event included the Rev. Robert DeJournett, a relative of Jayland Walker, Walker family lawyer Bobby DiCello and Ray Greene, executive director of The Freedom BLOC.

"Today is not the beginning, but it darn sure ain't the end," Greene said. "My No. 1 goal before I leave this position, before I leave this work, before I leave this Earth, is freedom and liberation for Black people, because what I know is that freedom and liberation for Black people means freedom and liberation for all."

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Speakers included leaders of the Akron NAACP and Akron Urban League as well as Michael Blake, Tamika Mallory, Paige White, DaMareo Cooper and Imokhai Okolo, — whom Akron City Council voted not to appoint to the Issue 10-mandated Citizens' Police Oversight Board, due in part to his social media post criticizing Akron police soon after Walker's shooting. (Brandyn Costa was selected as the final member of the board).

"It's us that are dying day in and day out," Okolo said. "And we have to be the ones to do something about it. Huey P. Newton said the revolution is always in the hands of the young, and the young will always inherit the revolution. It's time for us to pick up our inheritance and to carry this fight forward. Us young people, we have the energy, we have the ideas, we have the passion to carry this forward.

"We've been organizing since the dawn of time, since they brought us to this country in 1619. We've been organizing on those slave ships. We've been organizing in these plantations. We've been organizing in the fields, and we have been organizing in the prisons. And we have been organizing and organizing and organizing, and it's time for us to do our fair share."

Mayoral candidates Shammas Malik, Tara Mosley and Mark Greer, along with Fran Wilson, who is running for Akron City Council, attended the march.

Attorney Paige White, a member of the legal team for Jayland Walker's family, assures the crowd of protesters that the family has the right people representing them Tuesday outside the Federal Building in Akron.

While at the federal building, White, who is a member of the legal team representing the Walker family, said the family has the correct people representing them legally.

"We will not stop," White said. "As I said yesterday, they got the right ones."

Jennifer Ross, vice president of diversity, education and engagement at the Akron Urban League, said the organization is working with the National Urban League to submit demands to the FBI and Department of Justice. One of their requests includes having the agency look into the patterns and practices of the Akron Police Department.

"We want to make sure that there's transparency in the Akron Police Department," Ross said. "We want to ensure that Jayland's case is further investigated and justice is given to the family. We want to ensure that we have a citizens' oversight board, not just by name, not just on paper, but that has power — power to hold our public officials accountable to keep us safe, to protect and serve."

Once speakers finished their speeches in front of the federal building, the march returned to First Congregational Church of Akron for food and prayer.

Protesters shout as they make their way down Market Street during Tuesday's march to the Federal Building in downtown Akron.

Contact Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans at tbeans@gannett.com and on Twitter @TawneyBeans.