Sacramento highway protest displays ‘visual drumbeat’ of Black people killed by police
In the month since George Floyd’s death while in Minneapolis police custody, Placerville resident Moira Magneson says she has seen a profound transformation in the way people in the United States view the deaths of Black people at the hands of police.
Large crowds took to the streets throughout the country, calling for police reforms to prevent excessive use of force by law enforcement and lasting change to push back against racist ideals. Magneson organized a protest along Highway 50 on Thursday, a month after Floyd’s May 25 death, to commemorate his life and draw attention to how much has changed since then.
“I want this remarkable shift to be recognized on this anniversary,” Magneson told The Sacramento Bee.
Magneson gathered several dozen people to participate in “Black Lives: An American Overture,” a protest that placed demonstrators with large placards and banners with the names of Black people killed by police, including Floyd. The demonstrators held their signs on nearly 30 pedestrian-friendly overpasses along Highway 50 between Sacramento and El Dorado counties.
Magneson said she wanted drivers and their passengers to see the names on the signs as a “visual drumbeat” to honor and celebrate Black lives, along with raising awareness that will turn into action on behalf of those suffering from police brutality.
Thursday evening’s protest, held in a 50-mile stretch from Alhambra Boulevard in Sacramento to the El Dorado Trail pedestrian overpass in Camino, was scheduled to demonstrate in front of many as they head home from work.
Magneson said she recruited protesters who support racial equity, justice and the Black Lives Matter movement to stand peacefully on these overpasses holding signs.
Among the names displayed at Thursday’s protest were Stephon Clark and Mikel McIntyre, two Black men killed by law enforcement in Sacramento County.
Clark, 22, whose name was displayed on the El Dorado Road overpass, was shot to death in March 2018 when Sacramento Police Department officers mistook his cellphone for a gun. Police fired 20 bullets at him, hitting him seven times, while he was in his grandmother’s backyard.
McIntyre, 32, whose name was displayed on the Bradshaw Road overpass, was shot to death in May 2017 by Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies along Highway 50. Deputies fired 28 bullets at McIntyre, striking him seven times, including six in his back.
At least one protester at each overpass held a sign with a victim’s name facing traffic heading east and another facing traffic heading west. For instance, protesters on the Sunrise Boulevard overpass held signs with the names of Eleanor Bumpurs and Jamar Clark.
Pat Stow, 68, of Lotus held a sign with Bumpurs’ name on the Sunrise overpass Thursday, and she admits she never heard of this fatal police shooting until now. Stow said it was alarming that she never heard about it, but it’s not surprising since deadly encounters with police happen all the time.
“And that’s what this is all about; raising awareness and memorializing these people,” Stow said.
Bumpurs, a Black woman in her late 60s, was shot by a New York Police Department officer in October 1984. She had a history of mental illness, lived alone, was behind four months on her $98.65 rent and facing eviction when police officers stormed her apartment and found her holding a kitchen knife, The New York Times has reported.
Thursday’s protest was a chance for older people to protest Floyd’s death and support Black Lives Matters without the fear of contracting the coronavirus. The protest would bring together smaller groups on the overpasses, where people were required to wear a mask when safe social distancing is not possible.
Stow said the vivid imagery of Floyd’s death last month shocked her. She wanted to join other demonstrations to support the movement, but she felt too vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19. Thursday’s protest provided her the ideal demonstration to express herself while staying safe.
A lot of drivers moving along Highway 50 honked their horns as they saw Stow’s sign and she believes the demonstration was working. With so many names along the highway, she believes drivers were getting the message.
“It’s just chipping away at making people mindful of what’s happening,” said Stow, who was joined on the overpass by her husband, Tim Madden, and their adult son, Drew Madden.
Terry Wenner, 74, of Sacramento stood on the Sunrise overpass holding a sign commemorating Clark, a 24-year-old man shot in the head during a November 2015 encounter with two Minneapolis police officers.
Some witnesses said Clark was handcuffed when he was shot, the Star Tribune has reported. Local prosecutors declined to criminally charge the officers, citing witness statements and forensic evidence that Clark was not handcuffed at the time of the shooting, which supported the officers’ account that Clark grabbed one of their guns.
“This stuff has been going on all my life. It has to stop,” Wenner said. “Right now, there’s some momentum to change things.”
He held a sign made out of large Styrofoam packaging material he found in his garage. Wenner took a large black marker and wrote Clark’s name, the date of his death and “Black Lives Matter.” He held the sign facing traffic heading north and south on the Sunrise overpass, and he said there wasn’t any opposition to their demonstration.
“It’s been really heartening to have people honk and wave in support,” Wenner said. “There was nothing intimidating at all.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
