‘Blackout Friday’ protesters stop traffic in Dayton

More than 130 people on Friday afternoon gathered outside the Dayton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Dayton to protest the killing of unarmed black men and youth by police around the nation. The protest culminated in demonstrators flooding into Main Street, deliberately blocking traffic.

Organizers said the event was part of Blackout Black Friday, a national campaign to protest a grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson, an officer who fatally shot black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The campaign urges people boycott retailers on the biggest shopping day of the year.

Daymian McGuire, 37, spoke passionately about the importance of making good decisions and taking action to empower the community.

He said his 10-year-old son was expelled from a Kettering school last year after bringing a toy cap gun to school and showing his friends. He said the incident resulted in police responding, and he is thankful his son’s mistake did not result in tragedy.

“I thank God he is not the 12-year-old in Cleveland who took a cap gun to the playground and couldn’t go back home,” he said, referring to Tamir Rice, the child who was shot and killed by a rookie Cleveland police officer while he was carrying a replica toy air gun.

At noon Friday, a crowd gathered in front of the federal building to listen to community members and activists share their frustrations and demand action related to the deaths of young black people at the hands of police.

Visitors read poems, engaged in prayer and sang songs. The crowd chanted, “no justice, no peace.”

Demonstrators held paper crosses and tombstones with the names of some of the people killed by police. Some held signs reading, “black lives matter.”

Other signs demanded justice in the case of John Crawford III, a young black man who was shot and killed in Walmart by Beavercreek police. A grand jury earlier declined to indict the officer involved.

Protesters said members of the black and minority communities should boycott retailers on Friday to show their economic power and importance to society.

“Until black is respected, our green needs to be redirected,” said the Rev. Jerome McCorry, president and CEO of the Adams Project, which serves ex-felons. “In our community, we’ll withhold our dollars.”