<\/p>\n
Over 100 people turned out to Joe Rowell Park in Dolores Saturday evening for a peaceful vigil honoring George Floyd and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the nation.<\/p>\n
The masked vigilgoers carried a colorful array of signs, protesting systemic racism and police brutality. Dolores resident Clare Vass, the vigil\u2019s organizer, said the purpose of the event was to show love, support and respect.<\/p>\n
She urged those in attendance to find peaceful ways to speak out against injustice.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur voices are heard by our fellow humans,\u201d Vass said. \u201cThis is a vigil for black people. This is a vigil for our native neighbors. This is a vigil for all. We stand up for everybody, because silence means \u2018I approve.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
George Floyd, a black man in police custody at the time, died May 25 after Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes, despite Floyd\u2019s pleas for air.<\/p>\n
The vigil kicked off a little after 6 p.m., and after Vass spoke for a few minutes, attendees all took a moment of silence that lasted for 8 minutes and 46 seconds \u2014 the length of time Chauvin knelt on Floyd\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n
\u201cFelt like an eternity, didn\u2019t it?\u201d Vass said. \u201cImagine that same feeling but with somebody\u2019s knee on your neck. That can\u2019t happen anymore. It has to end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vigil-goers then went into a call-and-response, with some shouting \u201cSay his name!\u201d to an answering cry of first \u201cGeorge Floyd\u201d and then \u201cBreonna Taylor,\u201d a black emergency room technician shot in March by police in her Louisville, Kentucky, home.<\/p>\n
A few speakers went to the podium to share their thoughts as well. Precious Collins, a member of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, asked listeners to acknowledge the land and its history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have to understand where we come from,\u201d Collins said. \u201cFace our history and face our past so that we stop making the same mistakes over and over and over.\u201d<\/p>\n
She urged the crowd to look to their similarities as people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all Americans,\u201d Collins said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m proud to stand up in front of you all. All of you that are white, and all of you that are black, and everyone else in between.\u201d<\/p>\n
A group of counter-protestors had gathered in a parking lot across the street, with American flags raised and music playing from their vehicles, but the two groups did not engage with one another during the vigil.<\/p>\n