June 4, 2020

At George Floyd Memorial Service, Al Sharpton Announces March on Washington to End Police Brutality

The march will take place on the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Julio Cortez/AP

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On August 28—the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington, at which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech—Americans will once again gather in the nation’s capital to protest racism. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton announced the new march, which will focus on ending police brutality, while speaking at a memorial service for George Floyd in Minneapolis on Thursday. As he spoke, Martin Luther King III—who will be involved in organizing the march—sat clapping in the front row.

“Just like in one era we had to fight slavery, another era we had to fight Jim Crow, another era we dealt with voting rights,” Sharpton said, “this is the era to deal with policing and criminal justice.”

At Floyd’s memorial service, Sharpton led mourners in an 8-minute, 46-second moment of silence—the amount of time former police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck, killing him. Chauvin has since been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers involved in Floyd’s death are also facing felony charges.

“We need to go back to Washington and stand up—Black, white, Latino, Arab—in the shadows of Lincoln, and tell them this is the time to stop this,” Sharpton said.

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