Teens Lead Thousands in Peaceful March Through Nashville

On Thursday, local teenagers organized and led a massive march through the streets of Nashville to protest police brutality, making their way through Bicentennial Park to Broadway to the state Capitol. The protest started at 4 p.m., and according to some estimates, the march drew at least 10,000 people.

The event was organized by Teens for Equality, which began the protest with a series of emotional speeches from its members.

"As teens, we are tired of waking up and seeing another innocent person being slain in broad daylight," said Zee Thomas, one of the six teenage girls who organized the mass protest. "As teens, we are desensitized to death because we see videos of black people being killed in broad daylight circulating on social media platforms. As teens, we feel like we cannot make a difference in this world, but we must."

The protesters gathered behind a large banner reading "black lives matter" and headed toward downtown, stopping to chant, kneel and rally throughout the march. The thousands of demonstrators filled a roughly one-mile stretch of Rosa Parks Boulevard as they left Bicentennial Park and made their way downtown. When the protesters arrived at Broadway, they were stopped by police just before they reached the row of neon-signed honky-tonks. The marchers dropped to their knees as some protesters read out the names of those killed by police, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Police in riot gear were posted outside the bars and restaurants on Lower Broadway. Some adults who joined the protest tried to convince a black officer in front of Rippy’s to put down his shield and take a knee with them — many protesters paused to watch the men, who spent minutes pleading with the officer to join, and some joined their call. The officer refused and the march moved on. But a moment later at a nearby bar, a different black police officer spoke with some protesters and joined them in taking a knee, as did a few of his colleagues.

The march continued on through Legislative Plaza — during a sunshower — and arrived at the state Capitol. Organizers had told the protesters they didn’t want to initiate any confrontation with the National Guardsmen who were posted at the building, though some splintered off and went up the steps — some Democratic legislators even went out and spoke to them, according to reports on social media.

The march returned to Bicentennial Park for more speeches and a moment of silence that lasted eight minutes and 46 seconds — the same amount of time George Floyd was pinned by the neck beneath Officer Derek Chauvin's knee. Chauvin was eventually charged with second-degree murder following a week of protests and riots in Minneapolis and across the country, including a peaceful demonstration in Nashville on Saturday, which was followed by chaos and vandalism in the evening, including at the Metro Courthouse.

After the moment of silence, the marchers then took off toward Germantown. The protesters were fewer for the second leg of the march, though still numbering somewhere near 1,000, as they passed by partially reopened restaurants and homes, getting cheers from staff and customers as well as residents watching from their porches, some with drinks in hand. They also passed by many buildings damaged by the March 3 tornado, including business-incubator space The Lab, prompting one marcher to say, “That’s gotta mean something.” (With a tornado, a pandemic and now mass uprisings and demonstrations for racial justice, 2020 is definitely some year to be a teenager in Nashville.)

There was one tense moment when a marcher passed out, as protesters clamored for people to keep calm, while also asking police to call emergency responders to the scene. When an ambulance arrived more than 10 minutes later, protesters were upset to see a police officer with a rifle joining the responders.

From there, the march went past the Nashville Farmers' Market and back to the Capitol, where another eight-minute moment of silence was held — though this one was interrupted as other chanting marchers caught up, and as an argument erupted between some protesters.

After the moment of silence, police told the marchers that there was a tornado warning in the area — which wasn’t true, though storms were en route. With nightfall and heavy rain on the way, most marchers dispersed, though a few dozen decided to carry on throughout the evening. They returned to Broadway, where they laid down on the ground and asked police to join them.

Then they made their way to City Hall, which was damaged on Saturday night — that evening, some people broke windows, spray-painted the walls and even started a fire in an office. The historic building was barricaded with a fence and a perimeter of police. “We’re not stupid, it’s not like that’s going to happen again,” said one protester when he saw the officers in riot gear.

In the pouring rain, a row of protesters lay face-down in front of the barricade. One knelt in front of the police, trying to engage them in a conversation, and others stood in ankle-deep water eyeing the police. Another couple dozen protesters joined, but so did a band of riot police. The crowd ultimately left the Metro Courthouse, and briefly stood and chanted on the corner of Third Avenue and John Robertson Parkway — still in the rain — before ending the protest for the night.

A line of cruisers followed protesters as they walked to their parked cars, and some National Guardsmen were posted near Bicentennial Park. One protester, still fired up, waved her rain-damaged sign at the Guardsmen and shouted at them: “In case you didn't know, black lives matter!”