By CHRIS COLLINS
(Photos by Chris Collins)
(Turners Falls, MA) — Protesters took to the streets of downtown Turners Falls Sunday in protest of the killing of George Floyd and in support of an effort to defund the Montague Police Department.
“Our system is fundamentally broken,” Event Co-Organizer Brie Arsenault told the crowd of several hundred gathered at Peskeomskut Park. “It was born out of white supremacy, so the goal today is call on the town to defund the police.”
Montague Annual Town Meeting members a day earlier voted to fund the department at the same level as last year, and also voted $53,000 to purchase a new police cruiser.
An event Co-Organizer who identified herself as “Tatianna” said the time for real, systemic change is now.
“I’m tired of racist cops, I’m tired of not being able to drive down the street in peace,” she said. “We are all equal and we are here to share that with one another.”
After the speeches, the protesters headed up Avenue A to Montague Town Hall, which forced police to shut down car access to Avenue A and forced the temporary closure of access to the village from the Gill-Montague and Canal bridges. No arrests or incidents of violence were reported.
