Hundreds of people gathered in Altoona to peacefully march against racism and injustice following the death of George Floyd, who was pinned to the ground by the knee of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s death by asphyxiation has inspired protests and marches across the country.

Saturday’s march was billed as being a peaceful way to draw attention to racial inequities and to offer hope for change.

The group nearly filled Heritage Plaza as speakers, event leaders and organizers from Put People First PA! shared their experiences with what one termed “a world full of hatred.”

Local resident Kendel Butler held his baby as he began speaking to the crowd, and at times his voice trembled as he talked about raising his children.

“I’m scared (my kids) are going to grow up in a world full of hatred,” he said, noting his 14-year-old daughter came home one day and told him a classmate said she should be at the back of the bus because she was black.

Still, he urged people to have hope, and look to make change locally.

“We have to hope that white people will teach their kids that it’s OK to be friends with black people and we have to teach our kids, as black people, that not all white people are bad,” he said. “We have to take accountability for our part. That goes for both sides.”

Ray Corl, 21, was in the crowd listening. He shared Butler’s ideas about the distribution of responsibility to unite people and fight racism. He said action and reaction are equal parts of the problem.

“There have been plenty of times when I’m walking down the street and people yell the N-word at me, but I don’t get heated,” he said. Instead, he chooses to be calm and de-escalate, rather than respond with violence or more hate.

The event opened with prayer and religious faith was also part of the discussion.

Micah Marshall, executive director of Refuge Youth Network, told the crowd, “When I look at Jesus’ life, I don’t see racism, I don’t see hate,” adding that black lives not only matter, but are valued by God.

In the crowd, the Rev. Mike Rhyne, bishop of the Allegheny Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was listening. He said he was marching to “oppose the sin of racism.”

“Racism divides God’s people from each other. If we stand up against it and call it evil and sinful, good people can come together for positive change,” he said.

After the speeches, marchers packed 11th Avenue and walked westward, leading with an American flag. After they reached 17th Street, they turned left. As the front of the group crested the Blair County Veterans Memorial Bridge, they stopped. One by one, they began lying flat on their stomachs.

The marchers laid down for eight minutes and 46 seconds — the amount of time Floyd was pinned to the ground before dying.

After marchers rose from the asphalt, Rosemary Ellis was in tears.

“Laying down like that really makes you think,” she said.

Ellis, 62, was born in Altoona and resides here now, but grew up in Newark, N.J., where she attended majority black schools. Ellis said her stepfather was black, and she decided to join the march in his honor.

George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s names were chanted most frequently throughout the 3-mile march. Taylor, a 26-year-old African American emergency room technician, was shot and killed by police executing a search warrant on her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment shortly after midnight on March 13.

Another popular chant was “No justice, no peace, no racist police.” Signs and shirts included phrases like “Police the police,” “It could have been my son” and “Black Lives Matter.”

A number of drivers passing the procession beeped in solidarity as the marchers turned around at the top of the 17th Street hill and descended back toward Sixth Avenue.

Siles Jones, 76, a former employee of the Altoona Water Authority, was marching. He said he felt wonderful that something like this is going on here.

“Altoona has come a long way,” he said.

Jones praised the Altoona Police Department for the job they were doing in escorting the crowd and blocking the intersecting avenues to stop traffic.

Throughout the march, some stopped to thank APD officers for their work, while the crowd applauded their presence during Micah Marshall’s speech.

“Fortunately, as far as we know, everything’s been peaceful, everything’s been great,” Sgt. Matthew Plummer of the APD said. “We’re just happy to be down here to support something like this and to keep everybody safe.”

Only a couple of counterprotesters arrived, but the crowd ignored them.

When those participating returned to the 17th Street Bridge after more than an hour marching, they knelt in a final moment of silence. Soon thereafter, they returned to Heritage Plaza and cheered the event’s success.