HAILEY, Idaho — The officers of the Hailey Police Department are drawing praise after they took a knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protestors during a Tuesday demonstration in the middle of town.
The Idaho Mountain Express reports that the gathering drew more than 800 people to Hailey's Main Street, one of a multitude of protests around Idaho and the nation over the treatment of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a police officer kneeled on his neck.
According to the newspaper, Hailey City Councilman Juan Martinez and a group of other protestors moved to kneel in the street for eight minutes and 46 seconds - the amount of time Minneapolis Officer Derek Chavin knelt on top of Floyd as the man cried out for help and struggled to breathe.
Upon seeing the protestors go to the ground, Hailey Police Chief Steve England spoke up.
“I'm going to take a knee for one minute, for George Floyd and all the other socially oppressed people in the world,” England said. His officers followed his lead, kneeling down as the demonstrators cheered.
The scene followed a similar spectacle in Portland, where police knelt in solidarity with a group of protestors.
The Idaho Mountain Express reported that elsewhere in Blaine County, a Ketchum protest drew about 700 people, while a Bellevue gathering drew several dozen.
