On December 13, community members in Santa Cruz joined people across the country for a national day of protest against police violence. The focus of the protests have primarily been on the police killings of three black individuals, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice, which all came to national attention in 2014. After a rally at the Town Clock, demonstrators marched down Pacific Avenue to the corner of Cooper Street where a die in was held for 4 1/2 minutes, which represented the 4 1/2 hours that Michael Brown's body lay dead in the street after he was killed by Ferguson, MO police officer Darren Wilson in August.
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| Pacific Avenue |
As people laid down on Pacific Avenue, a large crowd formed, speakers were heard, and traffic was stopped. Demonstrators also stopped traffic during a short rally at the corner of Pacific and Soquel Avenue, and then again on Ocean Street in front of the Resource Center for Nonviolence (RCNV), which was the ultimate destination of the march.
At the RCNV, organizers of the demonstration gave a presentation titled, "White Supremacy, Violence and the Criminal Justice System."
Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs served food, and the protest included participation by members of Project: Pollinate, Santa Cruz County NAACP, Resource Center for Nonviolence, Cabrillo College Justice League, Santa Cruz County Community Coalition to Overcome Racism, Sin Barras, AF3IRM Central Coast, Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom, and Santa Cruz WILPF.
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| Dru of Project: Pollinate speaks at the Santa Cruz Town Clock. |
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| Keith McHenry of Food Not Bombs speaks. |
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| Irene of the RCNV speaks. |
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| Santa Cruz WILPF |
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| Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs |
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| Hands Up, Don't Shoot! |
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| AF3IRM Central Coast |
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| Die-In on Pacific Avenue. |
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| A member of Sin Barras was one of the speakers during the die-in. |
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| Rally at the corner of Pacific and Soquel Avenue. |
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| Blocking Ocean Street. |
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| Simba Kenyatta speaks in front of the RCNV. |
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