A five-hour, peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in Lubbock Saturday continued after two men were arrested at the scene, one for disorderly conduct after bringing a loaded firearm and causing panic among the 200 protesters.
Around 7 p.m., a man with an American flag face covering and an AR-15 approached Tim Cole Memorial Park. Someone yelled “gun!” and people began to flee. Others ran toward the man.
Emannuel Quinones, 25, was charged with disorderly conduct. A second man, 36-year-old Ezequiel Cantu Valderas, tackled Quinones and started an altercation. A responding police officer, on the scene within seconds, was injured in the fight. Valderas was charged with assault.
In close-up video of the event, you can hear multiple protesters ask “Officer, are you OK?”
Tyson Earl talked with Quinones before he voluntarily put the gun down. Earl thinks Quinones was coming to join the protesters, not threaten them. Posts on Quinones' Facebook page show support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The first words he said were 'Cops kill people. If cops can have guns, I can have guns, too,'" Earl said. "He was a confused, hurting person who thought the best way to come to this thing was with his gun around his shoulder – and he was wrong.”
The whole debacle lasted about 15 minutes. Quinones was later released on bond. Valderas was still in jail as of Sunday.
Organizer Bethany Cannon said she was proud of the crowd’s response. Some people left after the scare, but most stayed.
“We came together as a community and kept it apart," Cannon said. "We gave the police their space. We helped the police. Anytime anybody was getting in the roads, I was like, ‘Hey, get out of the roads, we can’t be doing that.’ And everybody was so, so easily like ‘OK, let’s back up. Let’s give them space, let’s be respectful. Let’s do this peacefully.’ I am so proud of our community. This is exactly what I wanted with this.”
Cannon said she has spent hours watching protests across the nation this week, following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. She wanted to coordinate a peaceful demonstration for Lubbock.
“I definitely understand the rage. I am not a person of color, so I cannot sit there and tell them that they’re not allowed to feel that way," Cannon said. "I grew up in this town, though, and I don’t want to see it burn to the ground. I would like to see us unify like we are today.
“I’m pregnant with my son, and if it was my son being murdered in the street, if it was my nephews, if it was me, I would want the same thing to be done. And the fact that it’s really going nationwide, I think it needs to be growing like wildfire until our president and everyone else takes it just as seriously as we are today.”
Urijah Jaushlin was at the Tim Cole Memorial in prayer and protest with a few other people Friday night. He said he was surprised by Saturday’s crowd.
“It just makes my heart so happy that so many people in Lubbock care about this issue," Jaushlin said. "They don’t have to be black, there’s all kinds of colors out here. Hispanic, Caucasian, Chinese. All races are out here showing support for us and I love that.”
Jaushlin is a young black man. He said it’s scary to see what happened to George Floyd and others across the country - and know that it could happen to him.
“The injustice that just happened, it’s terrifying," he said. "It makes me feel like when I get pulled over, it’s going to be the last time I have to live on this earth. That’s not something I should be worried about as a 21-year-old. I should be worried about, you know, college or living my best life drinking. All that kind of stuff. But instead, I’m having to worry about if I’m going to keep my life.”
Shydella Hubbard was at the protest with her friend Laurel Knighten. They wanted to be heard.
“If we don’t say anything, nothing will change ever," Hubbard said. "So we feel like if we’re out here saying what we have to say about it, then there should be change coming.”
The two young women have stuck together through tough times. Hubbard says she experienced racism at a high school in Lubbock. A white student targeted not only Hubbard, but other students of color, and called them racist names. It’s been about two years. The hurt is still there, and Hubbard tears up when talking about it.
That racist bully was at the protest Saturday, holding a sign close to the road. Hubbard pointed her out, but said she didn't plan to acknowledge her. She hoped the bully had changed.
Alicia Kellup, who moved to Lubbock from Chicago about a year ago, says the pain black people have felt for generations is what led to the current wave of protests.
“I am angry and I’ve been angry for a very long time," Kellup said. "This is not the first time I’ve felt injustice in America. And it’s going to keep going unless we put our foot down.”
Protesters were out on the corner of 19th Street and University Avenue again Sunday, and another peaceful protest is planned for next weekend.
