BLM protest in Sherman Oaks draws crowd for one year anniversary of George Floyd's death
LOS ANGELES - For the past 360 days, protesters from the Valley of Change nonprofit organization have gathered outside of the Sherman Oaks Galleria for a daily Black Lives Matter protest, and on Tuesday, there was a larger crowd to recognize the one year anniversary of George Floyd's death.
The Executive Director and Co-founder for Valley of Change, Latora Green, leads the efforts for the daily protest. The Valley of Change has been an official 501c3 organization since June of 2020.
"We've been out here fighting for Black lives, letting people know that every single Black life matters. I've just been the one standing every day and sometimes it's by myself but that's OK. People have a life. I just made this my full-time job because I'm passionate and I don't want this to happen to my son, my husband, my brothers, my people, we got to keep fighting," said Green.
RELATED: Los Angeles remembers George Floyd one year after his death
The group rallied outside of the Galleria for hours before marching a few blocks down the street. During the march, the group was confronted by a driver who reportedly yelled racial slurs.
"The woman was trying to get into a space and as we tried to clear, I guess we didn't move fast enough for her so she tried to hit one of our protesters and the group of the men got in front of the car to stop her from doing that," said Jessica, one of the protesters who was in the middle of the clash.
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Jessica, who is five months pregnant, said the incident escalated from there, and her boyfriend, Adriane Cameron, stepped in to diffuse the situation.
"She [the driver] threw a canteen at one of the protesters and that's when my boyfriend stepped in and closed her door because she was getting ready to go out and pepper spray us all so it went from peaceful to crazy really fast," said Jessica.
Jessica said her family was concerned about her well-being at the protest, but she felt she needed to be there.
"We're [Jessica and Adriane] about to have a Black son so I feel like I have to be here," she said.
Firefighters and police officers intervened and responded to the scene.
The group continued their protest following the brief altercation, and knelt at the intersection of Sepulveda and Ventura Avenues for nine minutes and 29 seconds, in honor of George Floyd.
The daily protest in Sherman Oaks from 12-8 p.m. will proceed Wednesday.