Dayton protests Breonna Taylor grand jury decision

Donald Domineck with the Dayton chapter of the New Black Panther Party said the event organizers want to keep the “injustice that was done to the Breonna Taylor family ... before the people."

“So many of these episodes happening, people feel discouraged and it becomes the norm,” Domineck said. “One of the reasons for having this rally was to make sure this doesn’t become the norm and people don’t get desensitized. We’re tired of this but we’re committed to continue to come out here and stand up for people.”

Rally attendees listened to speeches for about an hour. Women of color were invited to speak about their feelings on the Breonna Taylor decision.

Jóel Jones said she cried herself to sleep Wednesday night after she heard about the grand jury decision.

“I don’t hate the police ... the police hate me,” Jones said. “I don’t believe we should defund the police. I believe the police should be accountable.”

Many of the speakers entreated the attendees to vote this November. A voter registration booth was set up at the event.

The event followed a separate demonstration in the Oregon District in which about 20 people walked up and down Fifth Street from about 2 to 3:30 p.m. Organizers of that event said they planned it to bring renewed public attention to the Black Lives Matter movement and to protest the arrest of George Lail earlier this month.

A video shows Dayton Police officers punching Lail. Dayton Police told this newspaper that the man was not complying with officers' orders and was resisting arrest. The department said that officers immediately called for a medic and alerted their sergeant, who launched an investigation, Dayton police said.

The group went from business to business. One of the organizers, Micah Naziri of Yellow Springs, said they were gauging who is “feeling the movement for Black lives” and taking note of who is not. Some interactions with business employees got heated and demonstrators were told they could not enter. All of the interactions were non-physical.

Naziri and a few others carried guns at both events. Naziri said he believes police are more likely to respect protesters' First Amendment rights when they exercise their Second Amendment rights.