‘A breaking point’: Five years after George Floyd protests, Kansas City activists reflect

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - It has been five years since the killing of George Floyd, a moment that ignited nationwide protests and renewed demands for racial justice and police reform. In Kansas City, some protestors feel their calls for justice remain unanswered.

At Mill Creek Park on the Country Club Plaza, where demonstrations erupted in May 2020, community gathered to reflect on the progress made and the work that remains.

Demonstrators recall scenes of chaos that unfolded during the protests. People recall shielding their eyes from tear gas, seeing water bottles thrown, and people getting trampled in the crowd.

“That situation that day, man, it changed the look of America,” said Pat Clarke, a longtime community outreach advocate who was on the ground trying to de-escalate tensions.

Eric Morrison, senior pastor at Kingdom Word Ministries, said what he witnessed shows how cries for racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death reached a tipping point in Kansas City.

“When you see something like that happen to a person, and knowing this country’s history, you recognize a breaking point,” Morrison said. “As a 62-year-old Black man, it’s the repetitiveness of it. If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it again.”

Now, five years later, questions remain whether the city has truly seen progress.

Despite the age of time, many activists say their calls for justice remain unanswered.

“It still hasn’t changed for me,” said Morrison, “until we see policies being implemented, when we see police officers that have been in these places abusing people white, black or whatever, and they’re still on the force, and they’re being suspended with pay… until that goes away, until they are literally charged with a crime, then it’s there and it’ll be there,” he said.

Since 2020, city leaders say some reforms have been made. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas pointed to new transparency efforts, including more opportunities for public comment during Board of Police Commissioners meetings and shifting officer-involved shooting investigations to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

“Often, rioting is the voice of the unheard,” Lucas said. “A lot of people felt unheard in the system and the process. Hopefully, after all these years, people feel more heard.”

According to a KD spokesperson, 2020 also marked the rollout of body cameras for officers and updated use-of-force training. Chief Graves implemented ICAT training for our law enforcement , which stands for Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics. KD describes it as an ‘innovative and evidence-based approach’ to use-of-force training.

Clarke said it’s hard to tell where change is headed.

“I’d say it’s changing,” he said. “But in what direction? I can’t tell you.”

He has had ongoing conversations with local police about what police reform could look like, even proposing the idea of sensitivity training.

“There’s a lot of officers who come in that’s never dealt with a community like this before,” said Clarke, “They didn’t grow up in one.”

Activists say the next step forward must involve community unity and legislative action.

“Things have to change in that way because behind the blue wall is freedom.”

Meanwhile, city leaders say the work for justice continues.

“It’s making sure that when we talk about Black people — in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas, and America — that we’re actually standing up for victims in more situations,” said Mayor Quinton Lucas. “On the ability side, including with policing and the city more broadly, it is making sure that we’re not only paying high legal settlements — which we do — but also making sure that we’re finding ways to not be in those settlements at all. That we’re doing the training necessary to not get in those situations.”

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