DAYTON, Ohio — Dozens of people gathered Saturday afternoon at the federal building in Dayton to protest the death of George Floyd.

The protest began with thoughts from speaker Darryl Muhammad, who spoke about the death of George Floyd and how unity within Dayton is so important right now. Dozens of protesters chanted and waved their signs in the air as Muhammad spoke.

One of those protestors was Marie Vera. As someone who grew up participating in protests she says it was important to show her support for this one. 

“Kind of felt like this would be a really good way for me to get out into the community and protest the injustices that are currently going on,” said Vera.

Dayton native Jermaine Tims says he too felt it was important to show his support because he says his cousin was shot by the Dayton Police Department in 2019.

“It was kind of surreal because it’s something you see all across the country, but you don’t expect it to be in your own city,” said Tims.

Vera and Tims were among hundreds of protesters who participated in Saturday's protest. After the protest, people left the federal building to march through the streets of downtown Dayton. Protesters say they were impressed with how things turned out. 

“It was very classy the way it was organized,” said Tims. “Everyone was peaceful, it was professionally done. There weren’t any issues. Nobody was cursing at the police. The police were respectful so I’m glad that I was able to be a part of it.” 

“I did think it was peaceful. I didn’t have any concerns regarding it would turn violent, at all. This is Dayton and we tend to not have any violent protests,” said Vera.

And while there were some altercations towards the end of the march, it did not break out into widespread violence.