PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - People in Portland continued protesting the death of George Floyd for the 15th day on Thursday after city officials tried but did not come to agreement on budget plans.
Mayor Ted Wheeler had said he planned to make $7 million in cuts, including by getting rid of three police units and planned to divert that money and $5 million more to programs that help people of color.
But The Oregonian/OregonLive reported hundreds of people testified Wednesday and Thursday that city officials should take more drastic actions to begin to address systemic racism in the Portland Police Bureau.
The Portland City Council failed to agree on the budget plans as they stood Thursday. Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said she could not vote for a plan that fell far short of the sweeping cuts to police that many protesters have called for.
A protest march started in the city just before 7 p.m. with a crowd of more than 1,000 people.
As people walked, they chanted the names of people who had been killed by police, including Quanice Hayes, a Portland 17-year-old killed in 2017. At one point a leader called to marchers, “Tell me what you want, what you really really want,” and the group responded, “I want justice, I want justice.”
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