Melissa Baskin
Staff Photographer
A vigil was held on the evening of Feb. 6 at the Salem Capitol Mall to honor the life of Amir Locke and other Black Americans who were killed by police in the past year. [An Instagram post] by @cherrycitycollective posted a day prior to the event read “We hear there will be a vigil and demonstration for Amir Locke and the hundreds of others who have been murdered by cops and other fascists in the last 365 days. Signs, voices, candles and chalk. Our collective grief and burnout has numbed us. We must change this.”
Locke, a 22-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by Minneapolis police in an early morning raid at an apartment complex as officers served a no-knock search warrant. [According to ABC news], the Minneapolis judge who presided over Derek Chauvin's state murder trial was on duty when the warrant was signed that led to the fatal police shooting of Amir Locke last Wednesday. Saturday, Feb. 5 also marked the birthday of Trayvon Benjamin Martin who was a 17-year-old African-American boy from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was fatally shot by George Zimmerman.
Members of the Salem community, including Willamette students, gathered to write messages in chalk, share their grief and mourn together.
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