Members of Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish community marched and expressed their anger Sunday over the killing of George Floyd, demonstrating in the neighborhood of Midwood with others and shouting “no justice, no peace,” in addition to holding Black Lives Matter signs, according to a New York Post report.
The demonstrators marched peacefully down Ocean Parkway, which included approximately 200 Orthodox Jewish residents of Brooklyn.
Prominent public figures were also in attendance at the march, such as former Democratic New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who spoke at the march.
“Being here today is not a choice. We have an obligation to speak up when there’s injustice, in particular when that injustice results in the life of a person being taken,” Hikind said.
On the role of different communities' in opposing injustice, Hikind said that “you have to send a message. Every single community should be doing what we did here today here in our community.”
Another prominent figure to speak was Rev. Kevin McCall, a representative of the Floyd family in New York and speaking on behalf of George Floyd's brother Terrence, who said “he is grateful that right here in Brooklyn where he lives the Jewish community understands what happened to his brother.”
In addition to the Orthodox Jewish community, Jews other of other communities were present at the march, holding signs written in English and Hebrew that included 'Black Lives Matter' and references to passages in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).
Baruch Little, an African-American man who converted to Judaism, said that “[he] also stand[s] by all those who have been hurt in the crazy, chaotic, unjust, opportunistic crisis we’re going through right now. People are out there looting."
Little added that “anarchy. Make no mistake, this is also part of the problem.”