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Son of Toledo fire chief leads peaceful candlelight protest

Brady Byrd, son of Toledo Fire Chief Brian Bird, says young people need to step up and help push for meaningful change.

TOLEDO, Ohio — It's almost three weeks to the day that George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis police custody.

His death has sparked protests nationwide that are still continuing. Dozens turned out to downtown Toledo Sunday night for a candlelight protest organized by Brady Byrd, the son of Toledo Fire Chief Brian Byrd.

Byrd said it's been hard to sit by and watch what's going on in the country. When the protests first started, his father didn't want him joining for fear of his safety. 

Chief Byrd expressed this in a very personal Facebook post that he spoke to WTOL about last month. 

But young Byrd set up the protest to use the light of candles to inspire others. He said real changes need to be made in our society and young people have to start getting involved. 

Byrd added he doesn't want his kids to go through the same challenges his father, and even he, has gone through.

"I can't do nothing, like these are my people," Byrd said. "A lot of people my age you know, don't tend to care about things like this but I wanna try to be that person that sparks that interest in other people to be like, okay, this is something we need to do. This is something we need to care about."

The protest ended with nine minutes of silence for George Floyd. The time represents how long former officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd's neck.

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