A protester holds a “Racism is for losers” sign on the corner of Highway 395 and Elm Avenue in Hermiston on Saturday, June 6, 2020.

UMATILLA COUNTY — Protesters in Hermiston and Pendleton united their voices with hundreds of thousands of protesters around the world who chanted “No justice, no peace!” on Saturday, June 6.

After protests against racism and police violence on Monday, June 1 in both cities, area residents returned on Saturday for round two. Smaller Umatilla County cities, such as Milton-Freewater and Umatilla, have also held their own gatherings.

In Hermiston, roughly 150 protesters gathered at the corner of Highway 395 and Elm Avenue for about an hour before marching down the highway to Hermiston’s downtown festival street. There, they began with an 8 minute and 45 second long moment of silence — the amount of time that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was seen kneeling on George Floyd’s neck during a video that sparked protests across the world.

Standing beside a memorial to Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other black Americans killed by police, Hermiston resident Jackie Linton told the gathered crowd that the protest was not about hating police, but rather about justice.

She outlined reforms to policing in America that she wanted to see, including additional training, a ban on chokeholds, protections for officers who intervene when they see a fellow officer doing something wrong, and having the FBI handle investigations of officers accused of assault or murder.

She said a majority of police may join to protect and serve, but wrongdoers need to face justice.

“We want them tried and found guilty and sent to prison where they belong, not on the police force, not sent to another state,” she said.

Linton, who is black, listed things that other unarmed black Americans have been doing while shot and killed, including sleeping, jogging and holding a cellphone.

“We don’t want our police officers being trained to kill on sight,” she said. “They should be able to recognize a gun. Don’t just pull up and start shooting and ask questions later when I’m laying on the ground dead.”

Other speakers encouraged those present to vote in every election for the people most likely to bring about a positive change, and to run for local office themselves.

In Pendleton, more than 100 residents met around 1 p.m. at city hall on Southwest Dorion Avenue with signs in hand memorializing George Floyd, proclaiming “Black Lives Matter,” and other messages calling for the end of racial injustice and police violence.

“From a Native American’s point of view, there is a lot of racism in Pendleton that’s gone on for a long time through to our grandparents. They couldn’t go to certain restaurants and things like that,” said Shari Sheopships, who attended the protest with her three children. “It’s still here in Pendleton. I think Hermiston is pretty progressive, but Pendleton is still stuck.”

Following a brief message from organizers that their protest wasn’t licensed by the city and that their march needed to stay on the sidewalks and not impede traffic, the crowd began filing into a line that eventually stretched over two blocks long as they marched east on Emigrant Avenue toward the Umatilla County Courthouse.

Chants of “no justice, no peace,” “Black Lives Matter,” and the names of Floyd and Taylor rung out as the protesters marched against oncoming traffic so their signs could be read. Scores of drivers returned the sight with honks of support, while a few raised a fist out of their car window in solidarity.

Officers with the Pendleton Police Department stood in staggered positions along the march’s route and watched from afar as protesters made their way to the courthouse lawn, where they took a knee in silence for roughly a minute before erupting in more chants.

The march then headed west down Dorion Avenue, chanting all the way back to Pendleton City Hall and uniting again for final messages from organizers and a declaration that they’ll keep coming back and marching the same route each Saturday until something changes.

“No justice no peace, am I right?” Keyshawn Jackson, a 19-year-old freshman at Oregon State University who graduated from Pendleton High School and is black, said as protesters began to disperse.

“If we don’t keep doing this and we don’t get justice, then we’re just going to keep doing it over and over and over again. So, I come out here for me and my brother and my other siblings because if we do not have our justice then we are not going to get no peace.”

On Monday, June 8, Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston posted a message to residents on the department’s Facebook page with other ways they can get involved with policing locally if they have concerns.

He encouraged people to attend meetings of the city council, which approves budgets and policy for the police department, and to attend the city’s quarterly public safety committee meetings for more in-depth discussions about the department. While ride-alongs with officers have temporarily halted due to the pandemic, Edmiston also encouraged people to participate in those once they start up again.

According to Edmiston, during the 2018-19 fiscal year they made 1,271 arrests and used force in effecting those arrests 20 times, for a rate of 1.6%.