New Orleans march for George Floyd day of action, demands community control of police

New Orleans, LA – New Orleanians hit the streets on Sunday evening, May 25, to honor George Floyd on the five-year angelversary of his murder in 2020 by killer cop Derek Chauvin.

The rally began at City Hall around 5 p.m., demanding an end to Trump’s racist attacks. In particular opposing Trump’s Executive Order 14288 which seeks to strengthen policing, while anti-immigrant “Project Homecoming” puts more police power towards deportations. The demonstration also demanded justice for victims of police crimes, an end to attacks on immigrants, and called for community control of the police.

Founder of Black Lives Matter Grassroots NOLA, Sabrina Foster, spoke on the experience of losing her son to police violence. Alabama’s Pickens County police killed Foster’s son, Glen Foster Jr., in December of 2021. Police claimed Foster Jr died of heart failure while in custody, but an independent autopsy showed signs of strangulation and torture.

Foster said, “When George Floyd died May 25, 2020, I said to myself: ‘That could happen to Glen,’” She continued, recalling the horror of watching Chauvin crush Floyd’s neck. “I thought, “If he can get away with this, what could happen to my son?””

The Foster family will celebrate their late son’s 35th birthday this Saturday, May 31, with a fundraiser to help with legal fees as they continue to fight for justice.

Another speaker, Yareli Andino, a volunteer with Union Migrante, stated, “When George Floyd cried out ‘I can’t breathe’ he wasn’t just speaking for himself, he was representing all of us – people living under constant fear just for existing. Black folks are targeted by police violence every day. Immigrants are afraid to go to work, to drive, to show up for their immigration appointments because ICE agents are waiting for them.”

Organizers emphasized the need to keep the consent decree over the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) in place, a measure of federal oversight that Black residents fought hard for in the years after Katrina. The decree ensures that NOPD does not enter into agreements with ICE agents, which is a temporary relief for immigrants in the city. However, Trump’s Executive Order 14288 leaves the future of this consent decree uncertain. In light of the federal “flip-flopping,” as NOCOP organizer Toni Jones put it, the demand for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) is building steam in New Orleans.

After a march from City Hall to the Federal Building downtown, Belden “Noonie Man” Batiste spoke on behalf of the New Orleans United Front organization. He underlined the need to fight back against Trump’s attacks and tirelessly fight for community control over the NOPD.

Batiste shouted, “We are going to tell Mr. Orange Head and Elon Musk: ‘We ain’t scared!’”

He continued, “We not going to bow down. I’m a Mardi Gras Indian, we say ‘No Humba’. ‘No Humba’ means you don’t bow down and you don’t run away from a fight!” The crowd erupted into cheers.

New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP) initiated the protest alongside a coalition in response to the George Floyd Day of Action called by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

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