By Laura French
AUBURN, Ala. — An off-duty Alabama firefighter helped lead a peaceful crowd at an anti-racism protest this past weekend.
Opelika Firefighter Kristopher Davis, 22, attended the demonstration at Auburn University on Sunday, and told AL.com he was happy to see people of all races standing together to send the message that “we’re fed up with racism in general, but especially against black people.”
Protesters stood at the four corners of an intersection in downtown Auburn, dancing, chanting and holding up signs, and at one point came together in the center of the intersection to pray, according to AL.com.
In addition to helping lead the crowd, Davis stood in the intersection directing traffic, dancing and doing splits and flips. He said Auburn police helped protesters by blocking off streets so they could proceed safely.
According to Davis, the killing of George Floyd motivated him to come out and protest, and he questioned why some people are treated differently when “we all bleed the same.”
“Me being a community provider, protector, me being a firefighter, I can honestly say not all firefighters are bad people. Not all cops are bad people. But you do have certain ones,” Davis told AL.com. “But it only takes one to mess it up for everybody. I don’t feel like all cops are bad. I just feel like some cops are bad.”