Thousands of protesters attend march in downtown Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Thousands of protesters gathered for the 5,000 Man March in downtown Richmond Saturday.

The march began at 1 p.m. and took protesters down West Broad Street, North Arthur Ashe Boulevard and Monument Avenue.

The march took protesters in the streets of what was once the Capital of the Confederacy.

“Say his name! Which one?” protesters shouted.

Before the multitude put foot to pavement, the ‘Virginia’s 5000 Man March’ started with those coming together at the Lee Monument.

“I could have cried but I didn’t. It just feels like a beautiful moment,” Jessica Fox said.

Music filled the River City all Saturday as the singing group known as ‘Resound’ lifted spirits before the march took off.

“We are just grateful, we can see the change. It means everything to me, we are alive and see it happening before our eyes,” Mariah Hargrove said.

“As a black man and being out here, it’s so inspiring. It’s emotional because you think it could have been me,” Joseph Clark said.

From voices singing to the harmonizing of revved engines. Motorcycle group 'Cobra One’ came from Powhatan to escort marchers on their route.

“You don’t just see black lives out here protesting for equality. You see other races protesting for the same thing we are. When you have more than just one voice you will be heard,” the leader of the Cobra One said.

“We don’t believe because of the color of your skin you should be treated differently in any way,” organizer Triston Harris said.

Harris says this event grew from a small idea.

The crowd chanted by the monuments of Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson before making it back to the Lee Monument.

When marchers got back to the Lee Monument, their voices weren’t muted.

“Keep on marching! Keep on pressing!” Delegate Delores McQuinn said.

“When I saw what happened to my cousin, a black man pleading for a knee to be taken off of his neck,” Tavares Floyd said.

Tavares Floyd is the cousin of George Floyd whose death ignited it all.

“I’m asking you to take a real good look at yourselves and take a look at your heart,” Floyd said.

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