The events of Sunday night in downtown Raleigh started off as a vigil in Moore Square to honor the life of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man shot and killed by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 11. The vigil’s attendees also chanted the name of Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old Mexican American child who was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer on March 29, and the names of others killed by cops. Demonstrators also made space to remember Jaida Peterson and Remy Fennell, two Black trans women who were recently murdered in Charlotte. Following the vigil, a march through the streets of downtown Raleigh began around 8 p.m. Roughly 10 minutes later, officers from the Raleigh Police Department started to follow the crowd, issuing warnings to the marchers to move on to the sidewalk. Some moved. The majority stayed in the street. Around 8:30 p.m., more than two dozen officers, suited and ready for combat, charged at the crowd using excessive force and intimidation tactics, leaving some demonstrators physically harmed. Twelve demonstrators were arrested for failing to disperse. The marchers were persistent in their resiliency until, around 9:15 p.m., they decided it was too unsafe for everyone still out.
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