ST. LOUIS — Protestors gathered in solidarity on Saturday night, and marched the streets of downtown St. Louis over the killing of Jayland Walker.
Walker was a 25-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by police in Akron Ohio on June 27, 2022.
He was shot dozens of times by eight different officers.
Now, people across the country are protesting and demanding change; including here in St. Louis.
J.D. Dixon, the organizer of the protest in St. Louis, said their main message was to wake people up to what's going on in our country.
He emphasized that it's not all about making their voices heard, but it's also about reminding people that they have the power to make a change.
"We're out here to say stop killing us, we're out here to say that Black lives matter and that we deserve equity and equality in this country," Dixon said.
In front of the St. Louis Police headquarters on Saturday night, people came from all over the state to stand in solidarity and express their frustration.
Many shouting chants like, "Ain't no power like the power of the people because the power of the people don't stop," and "Black lives matter."
Dixon said they gathered together to express all of these feelings because of what happened more than 500 miles away in Akron, Ohio, less than two weeks ago, to 25-year-old Jayland Walker.
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"Another Black American. Another Black American male has been killed by the police," he said to the crowd.
Dixon, Director of Empire 13, which is a grassroots activist organization in St. Louis, described it as 'heart-breaking' and 'never-ending.'
"We know that there's gonna be another Jayland Walker here soon and that's why we're out here. We're out here because we have to affect that policy reform because we know it's going to happen again," he said.
The group marched from police headquarters to the Enterprise Center and made their voices heard from Olive St. to Clark Ave.
However, Dixon emphasized the work doesn't stop when their feet do.
"If all we're doing is marching and not affecting those policies, then when we're done marching those policies are still in place, and there's going to be another police killing," he said.
Dixon voiced that the only way to really bring change is to affect laws and policies, but they can't do it on their own.
"What I want people to see is really open their hearts up and open their minds up to see that it's going to take all of us. It's going to take all of us to come together and really bring change and be the change," he said.
Dixon added that it's not all about voting for change, but running for office to be in those chairs, and make the change.