Protestors Remember Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo At A Vigil In Leimert Park Sunday Night
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - Protestors gathered in south LA's Leimert Park to hold a candlelight vigil for two of the most recent police-involved killings involving men of color, 20-year-old Daunte Wright of Minnesota and 13-year-old Adam Toledo of Chicago.
The vigil is happening while many people around the country await a verdict in the trial of Minnesota Police Officer Derek Chauvin who is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, as well as third-degree murder in the death of George Floyd last May.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday, April 19, with the jury going into deliberation immediately after.
For some people at the Leimert Park vigil, these latest events are just another painful reminder of Floyd's death last year.
"There's an epidemic of police brutality and it's disproportionately affecting black and brown men and every time there's a new name it breaks my heart and I just wanted to show my support in whatever small way I can," Gavin Hickson, who attend Sunday's vigil, told CBSLA's Laurie Perez.
This is the second night of protests and candlelight vigils for Wright and Toledo in Los Angeles. On Saturday night, a crowd marched down Hollywood Boulevard, blocking traffic and drawing police cruisers and officers in riot gear.
Social justice activist Shelley Bruce said she's unsure how she will react to the Chauvin verdict when it comes down, but whatever it might be, she doesn't believe that it's going to stop police violence.
"I almost could cry at this moment because I know that there's more pain to be experienced by my community," Bruce told CBSLA. "Regardless of what happens in this trial, I don't think it's gonna be the last time that we see someone in our community murdered by police."
