Peaceful protest unites diverse crowd in Long Beach's Heartwell Park

LONG BEACH (KABC) -- A high school student from Long Beach helped organize a peaceful protest in Heartwell Park on Wednesday. A few hundred residents met to march and rally at midday, hoping to unite with one message.

"Everybody needs to be loved and treated equally, and to beat a system that is built on oppression," said Jesse Guerrero, the organizer who goes to Millikan High School.

Everyone was happy to see a diverse group turn out, all exercising their First Amendment rights.

Thousands of people again took to the streets of Southern California Thursday for marches sparked by the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minnesota, and long-simmering frustrations over incidents of police brutality.

"It's great to see everybody coming out in peace, the community coming together," said Priscilla Ziemdorf of Long Beach.

"I'm impressed with the children, adults all ages united," said fellow Long Beach resident Claudia Heredia. "It's a good feeling."

Michael Burdette says he has hope for the future.

"Now my children are able to be born into a world where they're gonna be seen and they'll be seen as equal," said Burdette.

Hundreds of people marched peacefully from Hollywood to the mayor's official residence in Hancock Park.

Two protesters shared with ABC7 a passionate speech about racial inequality in America and their reasons for joining Sunday's protests over the in-custody death of George Floyd.

A woman who attended a peaceful demonstration in Orange County on Tuesday discussed the emotional impact the experience had on her.