SAN ANTONIO — On Monday, San Antonians gathered for the tenth-straight day to protest against police brutality and racism.
Joaquin and Julián Castro addressed the large crowd of peaceful protesters, who made stops at Blue Star, La Villita, the Torch of Friendship, and HemisFair Park.
"Go vote in November," said Julián Castro, who ran for president this year. "Hold your elected officials accountable at every level. Make sure that your passion and your energy - that the lightning bolt of passion around this issue turns into real change.
"In San Antonio, I'm very encouraged because I think our mayor gets it; I believe that our D.A. gets it. They know that we have changes that we need to make in San Antonio. They're willing to make those changes; the question is, are the councilmembers, and is the police union?"
Detective Mike Helle is the president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association, who recently announced that he will be retiring after his current term.
"I've spoken to several reporters about defunding the police demands and depending who's saying it, means different things," said Helle. "Our budget is already paper thin, asking to remove monies from our police budget means forfeiting some form of police action which in any circumstance is bad public policy."
Castro disagrees.
"There is no reason police budgets should just keep growing and growing, even though crime isn't near what it was 10 or 20 years ago. They can make sensible cuts to policing and invest in better education, healthcare, and housing opportunities," Castro said. "We need to end over-reliance on policing. We need demilitarize our police. We need to hold police accountable when they conduct misconduct."
The demonstrations, triggered by video of George Floyd's death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, have been mostly peaceful in the Alamo city.
Recap our real-time coverage below:
8:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m.
Demonstrators march to the Torch of Friendship.
6:20 p.m.
Organizers speak to demonstrators at a packed Arneson River Theater.
5:50 p.m.
Demonstrators are now marching to La Villita.
5:20 p.m.
Joaquin and Julián Castro speak to demonstrators about systemic racism and how it applies to policing.
4:30 p.m.
Other coverage: