Today, public defenders across the country are marching in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and to honor the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and others who "died because of white supremacy," says a release from a group of Northern Kentucky Public Defenders.
Northern Kentucky Public Defenders will meet at the Campbell County Public Defender's Office (601 Washington Ave., Newport) today at 2:45 p.m. and start their march to the Campbell County Courthouse at 3 p.m.
Once there, they will kneel for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd.
They will then march to the Kenton County Courthouse (230 Madison Ave., Covington), where they will again kneel for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
Afterward, they say they will continue their march to the Hamilton County Courthouse, if there is interest.
"As public defenders, we fight every day for the indigent, for the downtrodden, and to give a voice to the voiceless. We are using our voices today to stand up for black lives, and against police brutality and racism," reads the release. "We are marching to publicly declares our opposition to systemic problems in our institutions of 'justice' that have run unchecked for far too long."
The public is welcome to join the march.
They ask that for everyone's safety, face masks are required and that T-shirts in support of the cause are encouraged.
A similar event is taking place in Cincinnati, where public defenders will be demonstrating in front of the Hamilton County Courthouse.
According to a Facebook event description, "Attorneys from the Hamilton County Public Defender's Office, the Cincinnati Chapter of BLAC, CACDL, and other local legal organizations will join Public Defender Offices across the country to march for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the countless others who have been murdered by police. Public Defenders throughout our nation have been fighting against injustice that up until recently, only those entrenched in the criminal system really see. Please join us as we continue to fight and make our voices, and the voices of our clients, heard!"
