Peaceful protests continue in New England

Here is a look at developments related to ongoing protests throughout New England against police brutality following the May 25 death of George Floyd:

MASSACHUSETTS

A university campus that was the site of a weekend demonstration against police treatment of black people will no longer be used as a staging ground for the Massachusetts State Police.

UMass Boston announced it was ending a long-running tradition of letting state police use the campus for events such as the Boston Marathon, the women’s march and sports team victory parades.

“The state police presence on campus has ended,” Interim Chancellor Katherine Newman and UMass Boston Police Chief Donald Baynard wrote in a message to the UMass Boston community,

Newman said she understands that Boston Police Superintendent William Gross and other local law enforcement officials have expressed outrage over the Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

“Nonetheless, for people who have historically, systematically, and even routinely been victims of police misconduct, the presence of such an intimidating display of police power is unnerving,” she wrote.

The campus was the site of one of many demonstrations on Saturday in Massachusetts. Additional demonstrations were being held on Sunday.

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RHODE ISLAND

Large demonstrations in Rhode Island continued to be peaceful this weekend.

More than 1,000 people marched Saturday to Independence Park in Bristol, where there was complete silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds — symbolic for the amount of time that a white police officer placed his knee on Floyd’s neck — while protesters took a knee.

Several thousand people also gathered Saturday in downtown Newport after marching from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.

The events happened a day after at least 10,000 people gathered at the State House in Providence.

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MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE

A student-led demonstration against police abuse crossed state lines in Maine and New Hampshire.

Former and current Traip Academy students organized and led the March for Justice that started in Kittery, Maine, then crossed Memorial Bridge and ended in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

“Is this moment different?” asked the Rev. Robert Thompson, president of the Black Heritage Trail. “Something feels different. We are writing a new page and we demand justice.”

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That same day, more than 1,000 demonstrators marched to the State House in Concord, New Hampshire. “Silence is violence,” one protester’s sign read. “Communication, not asphyxiation,” read another.

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VERMONT

Vermont Republican Party Chairman Deb Billado issued a statement about comments that her African American daughter made about protesters that were racially insensitive.

Billado said her daughter’s comments on social media were “wrong and unfortunate,” and added that she doesn’t speak for the GOP.

“It is very important in America that we behave in a manner where everyone is treated with respect and we need to be very careful that our words reflect that respect,” she wrote.