KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Protesters told 41 Action News they feel their message is being heard, but they do not plan to stop spreading it.
Justice Horn was one of the organizers of Sunday's Black Lives Matter protest, which included several speakers from 2 to 4 p.m. Horn said he wants to be clear that the event he helped organize was always intended to be peaceful and was separate from the destruction and violence that occurred later that night.
"I think we got our message out, and we made it clear that we need to stand together," Horn said. "We obviously can't control all of the 10,700 that were either interested or going, but a lot of the real people were standing in the sun with us."
Horn said he believes protests should be about creating change, which is why his event was focused around policy changes.
"That's making sure that our police department is locally controlled and that we have body cams," Horn said. "Those are some of the simple things we're asking for."
As the night went on, police said protesters threw rocks and frozen water bottles at officers who responded with pepper spray and later tear gas.
Horn said he feels those actions from police were too aggressive.
"The police serve us, their job is to keep us safer," he said, "and the fact that they were putting lives at risk with tear gas and brutality, I think that's simply unacceptable. The only time police should act is if things are getting out of hand and their lives are at risk."
Catherine Archie-Johnson came out to the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain to protest Monday afternoon. She said she was not at Sunday's protest but did not think police were too aggressive by using tear gas.
"I commend our police department for that because it could have gotten a lot worse," Archie-Johnson said. "It could have been like some of these other cities."
Archie-Johnson said she feels things are headed in the right direction.
"I feel like protesters are getting the message out there, out in the open, out in the clear for everyone to hear and feel us," Archie-Johnson said.
