Over 1,000 protesters gather in East Naples, hundreds march downtown

Hundreds of people walked down 5th Avenue in downtown Naples Wednesday night during a Black Lives Matter protest.

These were protesters originally gathered at the Collier County courthouse in East Naples, who then marched together to the downtown area.

More than 1,000 protesters gathered outside the Collier County courthouse in East Naples during the daytime Wednesday to publicly admonish racial injustice.

“Saving lives like myself,” said Danny Joseph, an organizer of the day’s protest. “That should go without question, but it does.”

Organizers we spoke to said they are in public to honor the life of George Floyd and also seek reforms in law enforcement.

“We have an opportunity to breathe, but, when a man says they can’t breathe, we would ask the sheriff’s office honor that,” said Vincent Keeys, the president of the Collier County NAACP. “And, if another police officer is there and sees excessive force that he stop and say, ‘You are using too much. Back off. Get off the man’s neck. Get off his back. Flip him over. Allow him to breathe.”

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