Indio candlelight vigil honors George Floyd, black lives lost to police brutality

George Floyd was honored Tuesday night at a candlelight vigil in Indio, along with all black lives lost to in-custody deaths and police brutality.

Organizers with the group "We Are Indio" called the event '#NoMoreHashtags.' The names of nearly 100 black people who were killed were written on the sidewalk. About 100 people turned out to pay respects, but also to discuss police reform.

"It's important to keep those legacies alive, let those folks in the community know that we're here, that we stand for change and we demand change," said April Skinner, one of the event's organizers. "It's important as a community to know that we come together. We're united as a front."

The event had been postponed from its original date last Monday due to a 12-hour overnight countywide curfew.

"We're not losing momentum," Skinner said. "We're not losing steam just because there was a curfew issued. We respected the curfew that was placed."

County Supervisor Manuel Perez attended in solidarity. "Police brutality is real," he said, adding that he hears the community pushing policy makers to step up.

It had only been a few hours since the Board of Supervisors decided not to vote on Perez's proposal for a review of the Sheriff's Department's policies.

"I am disappointed that I was not able to gain the support of my colleagues," he said.

Indio Councilman Waymond Fermon took the stage to address the crowd, later followed by Indio Police Chief Mike Washburn.

"We are willing to work with the community to always better ourselves, always look for resources, how we allocate our funding," Fermon said.

"There are 18,000 police departments across the nation," Washburn said. "We're not all the same, we're not all screwed up."

He reassured the community he's sworn to protect, saying his department has rewritten 96 policies already this year.

"Progressive agencies like Indio don't wait for a crisis to make changes that we know need to be made," he said.

The chief also pointed out that Indio Police Department has been recognized nationally for its work in building community trust and working with vulnerable populations.

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