In the News

SPRINGFIELD — Girding for an expected three days of protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died at the hands of police in Minneapolis, hundreds gathered on the steps of City Hall late Tuesday afternoon for a vigil urging peaceful demonstrations.

Mayor Domenic Sarno led a speaking program fueled primarily by faith leaders from around Greater Springfield and joined by elected officials and the city’s police commissioner. At least 300 surrounded the podium to listen and watch, lending words of encouragement to calls for peace, unity and prayer.

Similar pleas for peaceful protests have unfolded in cities across America after violence, destruction and looting have followed peaceful rallies decrying the death of Floyd, who died May 25 as an officer knelt on his neck during an arrest for a misdemeanor. Three other officers looked on.

Floyd’s arrest and his death were caught on video. The footage has inflamed the nation and reignited the Black Lives Matter movement.

“This is a vigil for healing and hope. What happened to George Floyd was atrocious and unacceptable,” Sarno said. “I, we, welcome peaceful protest. ... Mr. Floyd’s legacy should be a legacy of change, not destruction.”

Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood took to the podium and said for the first time publicly she believes the four officers involved in Floyd’s death belong behind bars.

“What happened to Mr. Floyd was just plain wrong and those officers belong in jail. And those words are not easy for me to say,” she told the crowd.

“They should be!” one member of the crowd responded.

The officer seen on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he cried “I can’t breathe,” Derek Chauvin, was fired along with his three colleagues. Chauvin was eventually charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. The other officers have not been charged.

The response to Clapprood’s remarks appeared largely positive in a climate where police have become lightning rods — again. She called for peaceful protest ahead of Wednesday’s planned Black Lives Matter rally scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. at Central High School and continue to police headquarters on Pearl Street. Additional rallies are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Clapprood said.

She warned of “insurgents” who arrive in cities “to make peaceful protesters look like they are bad,” and urged peaceful demonstrators to stay alert to potentially violent or destructive factions.

“We support your cause and we agree with you — there is no division here. There is no us against you,” Clapprood said, adding that her officers planned to march with protesters on Wednesday.

A peaceful protest occurred outside the Springfield police station earlier this week. Several hundred gathered outside the Northampton police station on Monday, and Holyoke saw more than 1,000 marchers Tuesday afternoon.

Springfield has not been without its own police force problems. For instance, but for the COVID-19 pandemic, suspended officer Gregg Bigda would have stood trial on police brutality charges in U.S. District Court about a week before Floyd was killed. Bigda is accused of beating two Latino youths during an arrest in 2016. His trial has been postponed along with all jury trials.

City councilors, state representatives and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, joined the vigil. Neal said the death of Floyd and the national uprising that has followed gives the country “a moment to try to get it right.”

The congressman quoted civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr. and his own colleagues.

“Organize, stand up, sit in, and vote,” he said, to loud applause.

Many members of the crowd bowed their heads in prayer alongside religious leaders including Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield and Pastor C.S. Cooley of United Temple Church Of God In Christ on Walnut Street in Springfield.

Cooley said he saw an opportunity to set the pace for rest of the nation.

“I want to see peace in this city. I want to see peace in this state. I want to see peace in this nation,” Cooley said.

On Monday at City Hall, City Councilor Timothy Allen called for a moment of silence in Floyd’s memory during a weekly coronavirus update.

Allen said Floyd’s death was a “brutal and senseless lack of humanity.” While it happened to one person, it also happened for “all of us,” he said.

“His cries of ‘I can’t breathe’ and his cry for his mama will echo in our hearts and minds for a long time,” he added.

Staff writer Peter Goonan contributed to this report.