Nearly 1,000 people gather in Circus Square Park to peacefully protest police brutality

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A group of about 1,000 people joined the Bowling Green Freedom Walkers protest in downtown Bowling Green Friday night.

The peaceful event began at Circus Square Park and featured several speakers. The crowd was diverse in race and age with many carrying signs that read “Black Lives Matter.”

The event was organized to protest police brutality committed against black Americans. It follows the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor, who was in her bed when Louisville police entered her apartment on a no-knock warrant and shot her to death.

Friday would have been her 27th birthday. Many people brought flowers in observance of Taylor’s birthday and organizers had a cake in her honor.

One man stood across the street from the protest and held a flag that was part American flag, part Gadsden flag and part Confederate flag. The controversial flag is often associated with white supremacists.