The protest started at the Cedar Park Recreation Center. Calls for justice and change were made, and speeches explained the reason and goal of the event.
"No justice, no peace" and other chants led protesters in a march around The Parke shopping center. The protest was peaceful and nonviolent.
The march date coincided with Juneteenth, a holiday that celebrates a June 19, 1865, proclamation in Galveston, Texas. The proclamation announced the end of slavery in the United States—over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and end of the Civil War.
Juneteenth became a Texas state holiday in 1980.
On June 18, the city mayors of Cedar Park and Leander proclaimed June 19, 2020, as "CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH DAY" and "Juneteenth Celebration Day," respectively.
Organizer Ashley Thompson, a Leander resident and University of Texas at San Antonio student, said the date was an important part of the protest and march. When Thompson asked how many in the protest group were celebrating Juneteenth for the first time, a majority of hands were raised.
The Cedar Park protest and march follows local and nationwide protests against police brutality and the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Mike Ramos and others.
Cedar Park Police Chief Mike Harmon said there were no issues at the protest or march, and officers were stationed throughout the march route for the safety of protestors.
