“I can’t breathe” and “Black Lives Matter” could be heard from the voices of about 50 protestors as they marched in downtown Washington Wednesday evening. The demonstration was to protest the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Officer that happened last week. People congregated in Central Park and then crossed the street to take a knee in front of the county Republican headquarters. They then marched in front of the police department and county courthouse, and again around the square. Many carried signs of solidarity with Black Lives Matter, some called for justice, others for the end of police brutality.

Through tears, Pastor Dave Watson of Washington First Assembly said it is important for voices to be heard and for such demonstrations to happen in places like Washington, “It’s important for even the community to actually not ignore what actually goes on. And, you know, we have great law enforcement in Washington, even now they’re going around making sure that the people that are exercising their rights are able to do it. But I think for me, I’m not originally from Iowa, I grew up in the deep south. And I’ve seen it where it’s just rampant in your face racism, injustice, maltreatment, prejudice. And a lot of people want to say that once you get north of the Mason-Dixon line that you’ve somehow left that behind, but this happens more often than it needs to. It should never happen.” Those who marched were followed by Washington Police officers in patrol vehicles with flashing lights on to alert other motorists of pedestrians.

Of those who marched, many were high school and college aged. Watson said that seeing young people find their voices and call for change brings him hope, “You know, you always hear, ‘Kids today will never know the struggle,’ that kind of thing. But when I look at this, I see kids that want to know, they want to. But this has got to change their attitude, because they’re the future law enforcement officers. They’re the future prosecutors. They’re the future judges. They’re the future of the country, and if they just turn a blind eye to this and act like it’s not happening, and they somehow think that just time is going to take care of this, they’ve got to come to that conclusion that time is not going to take care of this. Only a systemic change in the hearts and lives of people is what’s going to take care of this issue.”

Multiple times the protest marched past a memorial in Central Park, which honors the Civil War veterans of Washington County. It was dedicated nearly a century ago in 1931.