Bay Area Continues to Rally for Justice on Breonna Taylor's Birthday

Significant events in Friday’s continuing Bay Area response to the May 25 police killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, the killing of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police and the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery by armed white residents in South Georgia.

10:12 p.m.: Santa Rosa

5-year-old Kamari Houston talked his mom into coming out each night. “He seen it on the news and told me ‘Mama, I have to go out there, I have to be a part of that,’” she said. Tonight he’s helping serve food. Volunteers served free hot dogs to demonstrators at the Breonna Taylor march at Fifth and Mendocino in Santa Rosa.

7:30 p.m.: Vallejo

Protesters gather the Vallejo Walgreens — where Sean Monterrosa was killed by a police officer.

6:00 p.m.: Oakland car caravan at La Escuelita Elementary School

The Anti Police-Terror Project, the Black Organizing Project and Oakland Rising, along with several others, organized a car caravan to advocate for the removal of police from Oakland schools.

A member of the Oakland school board will introduce a measure next week, calling for the elimination of the district’s internal police force.

5:15 p.m.: Sunnyvale  

A large crowd of people met to march to City Hall in Sunnyvale.

5:12 p.m.: San Jose

In San Jose — chants of “Black lives matter!” can be heard, followed by a “die-in.”

4:30 p.m.: San Francisco City Hall

Hundreds of people gathered at San Francisco City Hall at the “Ready to Listen rally” and listened to black LGBTQ community-identifying members speak about their personal experiences.

One black woman, Hope, asked the crowd to stand up against racism in their daily lives.

Another speaker asked the city to defund the police and fund social services.

The protesters marched up Market Street to the Castro.

As the main column of protesters gathered around a stage hundreds of of bicyclists streamed past for minutes as part of Critical Mass.

4:00 p.m.: Berkeley

Berkeleyside reported on a kids demonstration held at 4 p.m. on the University Avenue pedestrian bridge.

3:30 p.m.: San Francisco, Mission District

About 50 activists and community members came together at Mission and 24th to protest the killing of local Sean Monterrosa by Vallejo police.

An officer shot Monterrosa through his police car windshield.

The gathering began with prayer, song and dance.

The crowd swelled to more than 100, spilling out into the nearby streets and blocking traffic.

Michelle Monterrosa spoke passionately about her brother. She said that he taught her about her civic rights and that he would have been out in the streets protesting.

“He was my best friend,” Ashley Monterrosa sobbed. “He should have been right here in the middle. Right here, like that. He’s here with us.”

They spoke about their brother’s passion for justice and education. They asked the crowd to become politically active, to vote and run for office.

Amanda Moran, San Francisco resident, came to the protest with her daughter Gloria to honor Monterrosa. This is the first protest they have attended this week.

“We demand justice for the family of Sean Monterrosa and all the other people who have been brutalized by the police,” Moran said. “We’re horrified … I’m so sick at heart and I want to support the family.” She said “we need to do better. White people need to do better.”

Marlo Dowell, a San Francisco resident said: “Cops are not supposed to be killing us.” Dowell added she is glad other people are paying attention because she had stopped caring. “It’s a beautiful thing. And hopefully something good will come from it all.”

3:30 p.m.: Oakland — Lake Merritt

KQED’s Julie Chang and Kate Wolffe reported protesters making shirts and taking a moment of silence in honor of what would have been Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday.

Oakland art collectives FYE & Treehouse are hosting a small demonstration and open mic.

12:30 p.m. Oakland

In an online statement, the Northern California Islamic Council (NCIC) expressed solidarity with the family of George Floyd and the broader Black community.

“We are all connected through the long, painful, and constant historical struggle for justice, fairness and equality for all,” said the statement. “Let’s be clear, State violence against Black Americans has gone on for far too long and without any accountability; the time to end it is now and calls for our urgent attention.”

A Friday prayer at Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland included speakers in addition to prayer.