ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – Faith leaders across Elizabeth City are united in helping the community heal.
Dozens of clergy marched in a “Procession of Peace” after a night of protests that extended beyond the city’s 8 p.m. curfew.
Clergy from all corners of Elizabeth City answered the call to help a hurting community.
They gathered at Mt. Lebanon A.M.E. Zion Church and marched about a half mile away to Perry Street, where Andrew Brown Jr. was killed outside his home by Pasquotank County deputies a week ago.
“A man was murdered. A father, and a son, and a grandson, and nephew. This is to humanize; this is to put a face to a pandemic that has soaked the soil of America,” said Mt. Lebanon A.M.E. Zion Church pastor Reverend Javan Leach.
Marchers sang along the way with police escorts.
Neighbors and community members watched and bowed their heads in prayer as pastors took turns preaching for a path forward and lamenting the pain that has become too common for people to bear.
They repeatedly chanted, “Not another one.”
As calls for answers are met with more questions, the pastors pray protests remain peaceful despite a judge ruling against the public release of body camera videoin the April 21 shooting of Brown.
“[Protests are] going to continue, and I believe today it may just get worse; however, I’m praying, we’re singing, we’re marching, that the Lord will turn this thing around,” said Leach.
