CINCINNATI -- "Don't wait until this happens to your child."
Those were words from Audrey DuBose at Sunday's Black Lives Matter rally and march in the West End.
Organizers estimated that 5,000 people marched from Cincinnati Police Department District 1 headquarters to Washington Park Sunday afternoon to protest last week's police shooting deaths of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana.
Leaders of Black Lives Matter Cincinnati made it very clear they wanted to have a disciplined demonstration. Although it was packed, it was peaceful and no arrests were made. Organizer Brian Taylor says they can't let the violence in Dallas speak for their entire movement.
"Our struggle doesn't stop for the acts of individual crime or frustration or whatever," Taylor said. "Our struggle is bigger than that. Our struggle is longer than that and our pain and suffering is deeper than that."
Happening now:Here's a look at the @blacklivescincy rally @WCPO pic.twitter.com/U3g4LLSrPe
— Ashley Zilka (@ashleyzilka) July 10, 2016
March begins #BlackLivesMatter @wcpo pic.twitter.com/ZPCoMRJi78
— Rose-Ann Aragon WCPO (@RAragonWCPO) July 10, 2016
Crossing traffic on 7th @WCPO pic.twitter.com/ORi9slf6yq
— Rose-Ann Aragon WCPO (@RAragonWCPO) July 10, 2016
The event, "Enough is Enough: Justice for Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and Sam DuBose!" began at 4 p.m. Attendees gathered for a rally led by multiple speakers, including Audrey DuBose, mother of Sam DuBose, a black man who was fatally shot by former University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing last summer.
WATCH videos from the rally below:
Ahead of the march, Black Lives Matter Cincinnati put out a request for security and legal support, including observers "to make sure the cops will not mess with us," people to act as marshals at the event, on-call lawyers to defend any demonstrators arrested and donations to a bail fund. By 6 p.m., the fund had raised nearly $4,000.
Organizers of the rally worked to ensure everyone' safety, forming a 15-member security team alongside the group of legal observers and lawyers.
The rally and march proceeded peacefully. WATCH video below to hear why Cincinnatians said they attended Sunday's event:
The march ended at about 6:15 p.m.
