The Voices of a Peaceful Protest

June 2, 2020

Petal, MS---

Peaceful protestors have crowded the front lawn of Petal, Mississippi's City Hall demanding the resignation of Mayor Hal Marx for several days. Tonight, the crowd comes together again for a town hall meeting to voice their concerns.

Hear the voices of a peaceful protest:

VIDEO WILL BE UPLOADED HERE SOON FOLKS.

George Floyd was killed by former police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25 in Minneapolis, MN. Floyd, 46, was a black, American man. He was arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit bill at a deli. While in police custody, unjust and inappropriate harm was done to him that does not align with the Minneapolis police training.

Video footage shows Chauvin kneeling on the neck of Floyd for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Floyd's autopsy report confirms he died of asphyxiation. Chauvin was accompanied by three other officers: Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao. All four officers were fired and Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder. The other former officers have also been charged with aiding and abetting murder.

In response to the video footage, Mayor Hal Marx tweeted:

Residents of Petal and neighboring cities, as well as people from out of state, all came to protest Marx's comments. Protestors gathered in alliance to pressure Marx into resignation.

Marx gave a statement to the Hattiesburg American, showing little remorse for his actions, victimizing himself instead. He said he regretted not being more sensitive about Floyd's death, but would not agree that his statements were racist. Marx says he will not resign because he would lose his retirement pension.

The protests at city hall started with an emergency meeting on Thursday night. Protesting continued throughout the weekend.

Protestors took turns speaking about their own experiences with police officers, injustice, and privilege or lack-there-of. The protest has remained peaceful. Many protestors carried signs and wore masks (some didn't wear masks). Local business owners passed out water, and members of the athletic, academic, and religious communities of Petal were all represented by at least one member. Many people that could not be present even donated food to be delivered. Petal residents showed up to say that Marx does not speak for their city.

Peaceful protests against Hal Marx have been planned to continue every afternoon 12-5 pm at Petal City Hall until his resignation.

#BlackLivesMatter