Black Lives Matter protesters march in Fort Lauderdale, call for defunding police

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Protesters hit the street again in Fort Lauderdale on Monday afternoon, calling for the city to defund its police department.

Organized by the Black Lives Matter Alliance of Broward, the group gathered near Holiday Park at the intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and NE 14th Avenue. They then headed west on Sunrise before turning north onto NE 4th Avenue and heading into Wilton Manors.

It was a smaller contingent than we’ve seen at some South Florida protests in recent days, but the spirited group drew supportive horn honks from nearby cars.

Tifanny Burks, one of the organizers from the alliance, told Local 10 News how their approach has changed.

“Four years ago, our strategy was reform. We were calling for more implicit bias training. We were calling for more body cameras. We were calling for more racial bias training. We were calling for more de-escalation training,” she said. “And we got those things. And police violence is still on the rise. So what we’re looking for is these strategies of defunding the police that have now been passed in places such as Minneapolis and Los Angeles. And now we’re going for Fort Lauderdale Police Department. That’s our first target.”

They’re hoping Fort Lauderdale’s city commissioners will later this month take up an initiative to defund the police department by up to $10 million, spending that money instead on different programs to promote racial equality.

The group stopped in front of Wilton Manors’ city hall and police department and read the names of several people who lost their lives to police brutality before taking a seat outside the front door. After demonstrating there, they marched back to Fort Lauderdale.

It’s part of the continued nationwide movement against racial injustice after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

This protest has remained entirely peaceful, with police stopping traffic to allow the demonstrators to march.

ICYMI: Photos of Sunday’s Black Lives Matter protests in South Florida