ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It has been two weeks since the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody, sparked nationwide protests and unrest.
What has been emerging in recent days -- and what still isn't set in stone -- is the question of what's next.
Mourners came together by the thousands during a public viewing Monday in Houston to honor Floyd. Closer to home in the Tampa Bay area, people are peacefully gathering to express the change they'd like to see, including more accountability of police officers.
A veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis city council announced an intent to disband the department there and instead invest in "community-led safety initiatives."
The conversation is continuing across Tampa Bay, and 10 Tampa Bay is committed to covering it, with reports from where protests are ongoing.
In Ybor City, the Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society organized a protest calling for, among other things, the creation of a police accountability council led by citizens.
Taylor Cook said the hirings, firings and discipline of law enforcement should be subject to public review by way of an elected board.
"We realize the police are still needed but we also realize we need to have the community have control over them and hold them accountable for their actions so that they work for the community and not for themselves," Cook said.
Cook and hundreds of protests gathered in Centennial Park before marching peacefully through the streets to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The group is also demanding all charges be dropped against peaceful protesters arrested.
HCSO said it’d made 11 arrests during protests since May 31 and “no peaceful protesters have been arrested.”
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Across the Bay in Dunedin, people packed into Pioneer Park for a candlelight vigil to honor the memories and say the names of those lost to police brutality.
“I think there’s already enough anger and fear and hate," said Robert Peirson, who organized the vigil. "People need to see that people can come together and have a conversation without that.”
Instead of a moment of silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the time investigators say a Minneapolis police officer held his knee on George Floyd's neck before he died, the crowd repeated words said by Floyd during that time, like "I can't breathe," and "I want my mama."
Crystal Vernon, a black mother, held up a sign reading, "Let my son live!"
She said she hopes for a future where she no longer has to fear for her teen son's life just because of the color of his skin.
"I see a community that's come together and that's tired and hopefully so tired that this won't be the last of it, that there'll be lasting change," Vernon said.
"So the next time they do see a teenage black kid walking through their neighborhood they won't be afraid and they won't feel a need to react with hate or violence."
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