The Battle of Monument Avenue: Report No. 2

Not all the political messages were painted on the monuments.

Last night, at approximately 7:20 p.m., thousands of demonstrators were assembling on the 1600 block of Monument Avenue. The grassy areas of the median and the circle around the Lee Monument were completely full of people. More people were marching in on the street. the sound of it was hair-raising. The sight of it was stunning.

Chanting as they marched, the participants were not being restrained by any concerns about social distancing. Still, many wore masks.

From my vantage point there was no sign of violence being directed toward anyone, or toward property. But the crowd was so large, I can't say that nothing like that happened, since there were thousands of marchers. In general, they appeared to be young and quite purposeful. At quick glance, it seemed every skin color was well represented.  

Almost magically, by 8:30 p.m. the vast majority of them had moved on. Since I didn't stay to watch what happened next, I'm only guessing the demonstrators proceeded west toward the Davis and Jackson monuments. There were still a few hundred people lingering in the area. They were peaceful and seemed to be leaving.

Day 6: This morning the good weather continued as I examined the peaceful block and photographed some signs left over from last night's demonstration. So, not all the political messages have been applied to the thoroughly abused monuments. Some of my young neighbors have been giving out supplies free from tables set up on the front steps. Water. Fruit. Masks. They have signs on their porches supporting the protests, as do several other neighbors.

No doubt, a culture is forming around these events. Each day the doings seem more organized. And, remember, I only know firsthand about my own neighborhood. So my reports don't speak for what has happened in the rest of the city. 

At 2:50 p.m. today I heard the telltale sounds of a growing crowd. So went back outside to see what the noise meant. A much smaller group than last night's was marching east on the median. All seemed quite peaceful.

When I came back inside I learned from news accounts that the charges in Minneapolis against George Floyd's executioners are about to change: "second degree" for Chauvin, the maniacal cop with his knee on Floyd's neck; "aiding and abetting" for his soulless accomplices.