OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Demonstrators gathered at the International Friendship Bell at the Oak Ridge Civic Center for a protest calling for unity and justice after Breonna Taylor and Vanessa Guillén's deaths.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician, was shot and killed by police officers in Louisville on March 13 after they entered her apartment during a no-knock search warrant. Guillén was a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier who authorities believe was killed by another soldier in Fort Hood.
The protest began at 7 p.m., so people had more time for speeches, according to organizers. More than 20 people were scheduled to speak and organizers met with the city manager to get a permit, they said.
They also asked participants to wear a mask, and organizers said they would give out masks as well.
Speakers shared experiences from their own lives about racial injustice while taking a stand against it.
Organizers said they spent 2 weeks planning the protest. It comes after a peaceful, Black Lives Matter protest in June following the death of George Floyd, who was killed in Minneapolis by a police officer.
"We need to remember that we have a voice, and it's important for us to use that voice," one protestor said.
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