'March For Black Lives' Draws Thousands In Berkeley Heights, NJ
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Another peaceful demonstration in New Jersey drew thousands of supporters Sunday.
The crowd marched for two miles through Berkeley Heights and knelt in silence for eighth minutes and 46 seconds, representing the amount of time a police officer had his knee on George Floyd's neck.
The "March for Black Lives" was organized by local high school graduates as well as the Berkeley Heights Diversity Council.
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Some students say they were overwhelmed by the response.
"It pains me to see what people who look like me go through, and I just feel that everyone can play an active role in combating it," said Victoria Vanriele, a senior at Governor Livingston High School.
"It means the world to me to see my community come together in a way that I really just didn't think would happen," protester Jakada Khalfani said.
The march was originally planned for Memorial Park, but the crowd was so big they had to go to a middle school field.
Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Murphy spent time at protests in Hillside and Westfield.
The governor said he was invited to the march in Westfield by a high school junior who wrote him a letter describing her own experiences with racism.
He tweeted photos, saying, "We will fight to break the chains of inequality and systemic racism."'
