Black Lives Matter shaped the nation and the north shore in 2020 – Itemlive – Daily Item

Glenn Rigoff of Boston flies a Black Lives Matter as he stands at Red Rock Park in Lynn with Lise Pass of Swampscott, right, and woman who didn't wish to give her name, during a demonstration to protest the lack of charges brought against officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor on Saturday. (Spenser Hasak)

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The police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor sparked a massive social movement calling for police reform and racial justice that reverberated throughout the North Shore.

The protests and demonstrations, largely involving the group Black Lives Matter, peaked between May 24 and Aug. 22 when more than 10,600 demonstrations were held across the country involving 15 million to 26 million Americans, according to data gathered by the Armed Conflict Location Event Data Project.

The vast majority of these events more than 93 percent involved non-violent demonstrators, though certain protests did feature looting and rioting.

Nearly one in 10 events were met with intervention by police or other authorities. Government personnel used force against protestors in more than half at least 54 percentof these interventions.

Some of these demonstrations featured calls to Defund the Police, a slogan that most activists would describe as shifting resources from the police departments towards other social services addressing mental health, homelessness and addiction.

Through all this, the BLM movement has enjoyed a unique level of support from the general public.

According to a Pew Research Center survey, in June, a large majority of U.S. adults (67 percent) expressed at least some support for the movement, though this number had decreased to 55 percent by September.

Compare this to 1964, when a Gallup poll showed that 74 percent of Americans believed that mass demonstrations during the civil rights movement would hurt the cause of racial equality.

On the North Shore, every city and town was touched by these demonstrations and by the increased focus on racial equity that they brought to the forefront of the political conversation.

In Lynn, several peaceful rallies and events occurred in the wake of the police killings. These rallies sparked conversations that led to the December decision to require Lynn Police Officers to wear body cameras on the job.

In Revere, hundreds marched from the beach to city hall in a peaceful demonstration following Floyds death, and in Nahant a small group of residents gathered in front of the public library to show support for the movement.

In Swampscott, a weekly rally of supporters of President Trump that began in April was countered by protesters, many of whom were associated with the BLM movement. Many Trump supporters disparaged the movement at these rallies, with some referring to the group as Burn, Loot and Murder. The rallies grew to become contentious, and, toward the end of the year, physical, with three arrests of Trump supporters and two arrests of counter-protestors.

In Salem, hundreds of protestors turned out for a June demonstration in front of the police station calling for the removal of Capt. Kate Stephens from the Department for unauthorized tweets she made from the Salem Police Twitter criticizing Boston Mayor Marty Walsh for issuing a permit for a BLM demonstration in the midst of a pandemic. Stephens was eventually demoted.

In Lynnfield and Marblehead, men faced allegations of vandalism of BLM signs and banners. Both towns held peaceful demonstrations following the vandalism.

In Peabody, a memorial commemorating police killed in the line of duty, which was displayed in received community backlash, with a petition to remove the memorial gathering more than 300 signatures. Ultimately, the memorial was not removed.

In Saugus, an October pro-police standout descended into a shouting match between police supporters and those arguing for defunding the police. Several Saugus Selectmen were in the middle of the fray, arguing with demonstrators.

The calls for racial justice and police reform found their way into statewide legislation in the police reform bill.

An original draft of the bill which passed the state legislature would have created an independent, civilian-led commission to standardize the certification, training and decertification of police officers, banned chokeholds, banned use of facial recognition, limited the use of deadly force and required police officers to intervene when witnessing another officer using force beyond what is necessary or reasonable under the circumstances.

Gov. Charlie Baker would not sign the bill into law however, citing concerns over the facial recognition ban and the regulatory power of the civilian commission.

A revised bill, which scales back the power of the civilian commission and the scope of the facial recognition ban has passed the Senate and currently waits for approval from the House.

Regardless of the success of the legislation, there is no doubt scope and influence of the movement.

In action ongoing in the streets, in the sorts of conversations that are occurring in all sorts of settings, in the reforms that have been enactedanyone can see that BLM will shape the North Shore and the nation for years to come.

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Black Lives Matter shaped the nation and the north shore in 2020 - Itemlive - Daily Item