More Than 1,000 Rally at Peaceful March for Justice in White Plains
By Gordon Moccio
More than 1,000 people took part Sunday in a march for racial justice organized at the Calvary Baptist Church.
With the temperature reaching more than 85 degrees, the scorching heat did not stop the protestors from spreading their message. Reverend Erwin Lee Trollinger addressed the demonstrators and spoke about how change can be implemented throughout the community.
“I don’t believe in change; I believe in transformation,” he said. “You can change laws, but transformation has to come from the heart.”
Trollinger mentioned how he was pleased with the turnout and how the community was responding in a peaceful manner.
Before the marching began, Westchester County Executive George Latimer who was in attendance, told Examiner Media how county officials can play a role in allowing change to occur.
“What we’ve done at the county level, which will be announced at a press conference, we have our task force under the thing that Governor Cuomo did a couple of weeks ago that will go through reform and reinvention, and they’ll look at every single specific policy and hopefully we will see some recommendations that we can adapt into law,” Latimer said. “It might take us through most of the year to do it, but we are committed to follow up on the specifics of regulation”.
Protestors lined up to march down W. Post Road to the Martin Luther King Jr. statue outside the Westchester County Courthouse. Once reaching the courthouse, there was a moment of prayer, followed by kneeling for eight minutes and 46 seconds in memory of George Floyd, who died in Minnesota inlate May after a police officer, who has been charged with second-degree murder, kneeled on his neck following an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill at a deli.
Prominent religious figureheads from all faiths were in attendance, as well as White Plains Mayor Tom Roche, who also expressed his gratitude to those who put together and participated in the event.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/