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FRAMINGHAM – Framingham High 2016 graduate Kelvin Rivera, who organized a couple of Black Lives Matter protests last month, to bring awareness to the death of George Floyd, has organized another protest for Sunday, June 7 in Framingham.

“This time I am calling ALL Framingham Citizens AND our neighboring towns to join us in demanding change for racial injustices, police brutality, justice, and fighting for all black lives,” said Rivera.

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The event starts at noon on Route 30, in front of Target.

Around 1 p.m., the protesters will peacefully march from Target area to Framingham Police Department and then on to the Memorial Building, where they will stop.

There they plan to kneel in silence for 9 minutes, in “honor of George Floyd who was murdered by Minneapolis police for this long. We hope to send a strong message to the rest of our community and nation,” said Rivera.

The protest event is also to bring awareness to the death of Floyd, a black man, who died while a now-fired Minneapolis Police Officer pushed his knee into his neck for almost 9 minutes.

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Protest and solidarity events have been happening all over America and Massachusetts since last week, after the death of Floyd in May, while handcuffed and in the custody of Minneapolis police officers.

Rivera was the first to organize a protest in Framingham.

A white police officer Derek Chauvin pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck, as he cried that he could not breathe. The next day, Chauvin and the three other police officers were fired, after a bystander’s video showed the incident.

The FBI is in charge of the investigating, and arrested Chauvin, a few days after the death. On June 3, it was announced the other three former Minneapolis police officers on the scene when Floyd died were being charged with aiding and abetting a murder, and the murder case against former police officer Chauvin was upgraded to second degree.

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After the stop at the Memorial Building in downtown Framingham, the group will head back to Route 30 & the Target shopping plaza area.

Everyone is asked to wear a face covering during the protest.

“We have decided to have a minimum of 7 days in between the last time we met because COVID-19 is still a war we are fighting. Ideally, we wanted to provide extra time to make sure that people are healthy and not showing symptoms. We do not want to contribute to creating a spike in cases in our town or hurt the work already done by our amazing front line workers. Please if you feel sick, stay at home,” said Rivera.

“Looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday to continue fighting for all black lives and demand justice & change. #BlackLivesMatter,” concluded Rivera.

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By editor

Susan Petroni is the former editor for SOURCE. She is the founder of the former news site, which as of May 1, 2023, is now a self-publishing community bulletin board. The website no longer has a journalist but a webmaster.