Black Lives Matter protests come to Seward's Town Square

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Nationwide protests finally reached the front steps of Seward County.

On Tuesday afternoon a group of protestors peacefully occupied the lawn surrounding the Seward County Courthouse for three hours, chanting and holding signs addressing police brutality and institutional racism.

Protestors notified authorities two hours before their planned protest. Seward County Sheriff Mike Vance elected to block off Seward Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets for safety, and law enforcement oversaw the afternoon's events. All Seward County deputies responded and multiple Seward Police Department officers, including Chief Alan Baldwin, monitored activity.

With that, Seward became the latest city in the nation to protest institutional racism brought to light by the recorded killing of Minneapolis, Minnesota, resident George Floyd while in police custody. Derek Chauvin, the then-officer who pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes, 42 seconds and ultimately caused his death according to an independent autopsy, has been removed from the Minneapolis Police Department and faces charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for Floyd's death. The three other officers involved in detaining Floyd, who was approached by police originally for using a fraudulent $20 bill at a local grocery store, were not initially charged. On Wednesday, nearly a week after nation-wide protests, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced he was filing second-degree murder charges against Chauvin and charged the other three officers with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

Those events started protests in Minneapolis, which spread to major American cities New York City, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver and Louisville. Protests started in Omaha and Lincoln over the weekend with both cities implementing curfews starting Sunday night.

Business and property damage were reported in all of those cities, causing some local businesses to take precautions. Fast Mart on Seward's Sixth Street, just a block away from the protest, abruptly told customers approaching their building at 6 p.m. that they were closing.

Seward's protestors, largely made up of Seward residents, attended protests in Lincoln and wanted to bring their cries to their own small town.

Before dispersing the protestors asked law enforcement to kneel for 8 minutes, 42 seconds, and come together in prayer.

Complete coverage of the protest can be found in the June 10 edition of the Seward County Independent.