Afternoon Protests Over George Floyd's Death Bring Out Hundreds In Queens, Staten Island
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Protests over the death of George Floyd continued Saturday across the tri-state area.
In the streets of Queens, protesters gathered, calling for justice. The demonstration brought out hundreds to Jackson Heights.
"We have to be out here in order to put pressure ... to stop these killings," one protester told CBS2's Cory James.
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The movement left Kay Igsho in tears.
"Sometimes I feel helpless, hopeless. I've been thinking a lot about Eric Garner," she said.
Eric Garner is why Rev. Al Sharpton organized a rally in Staten Island.
During his arrest, Floyd repeatedly said, "I can't breathe," the same phrase said by Garner before he died in 2014 after an NYPD officer held him in a chokehold.
Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, was at the rally.
"It's deja vu all over again," she said. "It's just a big knot in my heart to see that it's not stopping."
Demonstrators in Staten Island also took to the streets and marched.
"Everything's happening so fast and it's hard because time represses us, but it's time to speak out and if this is the best we can do then I'll do it," said Lucia Sulzer.
"This is a small step. If need be, there will be more steps," said Melodee Adams.
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Politicians who were present at the rallies say more steps will be taken to change laws.
"We can fix things if we continue to work together, but we have to let people who are closest to the pain lead," Sen. Jessica Ramos said.
"For those of us who are in government, it's our obligation to bring that change to them and we're going to make that happen," Sen. Michael Gianaris said.
The afternoon's protests were mostly peaceful, but later Saturday evening, things became violent as protesters again took to the streets in Brooklyn.