Dozens of activists marched to the Akron Police headquarters Wednesday afternoon to deliver a petition calling for accountability and policy changes.
The petition, which was created by Akron organization Freedom BLOC as well as the national Color For Change, received 58,000 signatures nationwide, said Freedom BLOC Executive Director Ray Greene, Jr.
Demands include expunging the records of demonstrators that were arrested in protests after the death of Jayland Walker, an unarmed Black man who was fatally shot by Akron Police earlier this summer.
“In solidarity with you today, there is over 58,000 people across the country that [say] what happened to Jayland Walker should never happen again,” Greene told the group of activists before marching to the police station.
The petition also calls for police to stop using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets at protests.
The group gathered outside the United Way of Summit County office on North High Street and headed a few blocks south to the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center. Volunteers in bright vests helped direct traffic as the group chanted and marched in the street.
The mood became tense when two officers came outside as the marchers arrived at the building.
An officer asked to speak to Greene directly as some protesters shouted demands.
“They wouldn’t let anybody in, that’s all that was said, really,” Greene said. “I mean, he tried to move us back, but this is our property, so they can’t move us back.”
Greene and several organizers gave the petition to a police officer outside the building and asked for it to be delivered to Police Chief Steve Mylett.
The petition also calls for a citizen-led commission to examine the police department’s budget and reallocate funds to focus on violence prevention and “essential services.”
“Our tax dollars should go to community. To safety. Not engagement in escalation,” Greene said. “So, we need better systems all the way around, and that’s what we are out here fighting for.”
The organizers chanted outside the building for a few minutes before heading back to the United Way building.
Freedom BLOC organizers have been collecting signatures on another petition that will be submitted to the Summit County Board of Elections to put a civilian police review board on the ballot this fall, Greene added.
They are working on validating the more than 6,000 signatures they’ve gathered and hope to deliver that petition in the coming days, he said.
Wednesday’s march was part of Freedom BLOC’s Justice for Jayland Walker Week of Action, which goes through Sunday.
