Latinos March Silently In Solidarity

Fifty protesters silently marched single file Thursday evening along the Grand Avenue sidewalk to protest police brutality.

Instead of chants of ​“no justice, no peace,” the most prominent sounds were the honking cars that rushed by, and the ​“clip, clip” sound of staples sticking posters with police officers’ faces into telephone poles.

The protest, organized by Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA) and Black and Brown United in Action, started at the C‑Town Supermarket in Fair Haven. It ended on the steps of City Hall.

Organizer John Lugo said he wanted to express solidarity between New Haven’s Latinx and African American communities. He said he also wanted to raise awareness about the police brutality that affects New Haven’s immigrants and the officers who are still on the city’s police force who have a history of brutality against them.

The silence, he said, was inspired by a march that took place in Mexico in 2012. Thousands of members of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation staged a silent march then through multiple cities in Chiapas on the 15th anniversary of a massacre of Zapatista sympathizers by a government-backed paramilitary group. Lugo said the image of thousands of silent marchers sent a powerful message to Mexico’s government.

“We don’t want to be the voice of the movement,” Lugo (pictured above) said to a circle of protesters standing in the C‑Town parking lot before setting off down Grand Avenue. But, he said, he did want to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and the people protesting in New Haven and across the nation against the police violence that targets African-Americans. That’s why the group would be marching in silence on the sidewalk, he said.

Or, as ULA member Perick Appo put it, ​“when you are silent and present, you will hear the steps of the oppressor, in this case the police, leaving.”

After the rain stopped, and Lugo had rallied the crowd in both English and Spanish, the group set off westward toward downtown. Activist Barbara Fair led the way with Black and Brown United in Action leader CJ. 

Some protesters held ​“black lives matter” signs. Others held posters with photos of two New Haven police officers with the word ​“Wanted” printed in bold above.

One of the posters showed two images of Officer Dennis O’Connell, who has been accused of brutality nine times without serious discipline. In 2008, he allegedly shoved, punched, kicked, and pepper sprayed a handcuffed Guatemalan immigrant named Abel Sanchez. O’Connell remains on the force.

“Wanted for multiple counts of police brutality,” his poster said.

The other poster showed the face of Sgt. Martin Feliciano, who allegedly threw Ecuadorean immigrant Luis Jimenez-Jarmillo to the ground in front of his children. A court case settled in 2019, with Jimenez-Jarmillo receiving $20,000.

“Wanted for brutalizing an immigrant father in front of his children,” the poster said.

As protesters walked in single file, Lugo ran alongside them with a stack of posters and a stapler. He stopped periodically at telephone poles and stapled the posters into them.

Andres Perez-Alonzo brought a pair of stilts he had made with wood and lengths of rope.

Tamara Nuñez del Prado (pictured above, left) stopped at every cross street to act as crossing guard. After the whole group had crossed, she ran back up to the front to stand in the next street to make sure no one was hit.

When protesters reached the Green, they walked along the smooth paving stones that line the dirt walkway along Elm Street. Once they reached Temple Street, they turned onto the paved pathway leading to the flagpole. There they continued on to Church Street, crossed, and then assembled on the steps of City Hall.

For eight minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into George Floyd’s neck to kill him, they stood in silence on the steps, holding their signs toward the street. The only sounds were the occasional car horn as drivers expressed their solidarity, and the rapid clicking of reporters’ cameras.

When the time was up, Lugo stepped forward. ​“Thank you,” he said. Slowly, the crowd dispersed.