LARGO — The man in the Mustang registered his irritation by revving his engine.

Moments earlier, as rush hour traffic hit its peak, activists with the Bay Area Dream Defenders and other groups linked arms and walked into the crosswalk on Seminole Boulevard at the Ulmerton Road intersection. They unfurled a banner:

SAY HER NAME: ASHAUNTI, LANIYA, DOMINIQUE HAD DREAMS

When the light turned green, the activists stood their ground. As horns sounded, they chanted: "Black girls matter! Say her name!"

The Mustang driver pressed down on the gas pedal and his 8-cylinder engine roared. Deputies stood nearby as he inched forward, and revved it again. Inched and revved. Inched and revved.

Finally, he got by one of the activists, brushing her hip as he drove by. Moments later, the group heeded requests from Pinellas sheriff's deputies to clear the road.

The two dozen gathered Thursday morning to demonstrate on the national #SayHerName Day of Action, a movement to bring attention to how women of color are treated by the criminal justice system.

The event took on a personal tone for local activists who have questioned how the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office handled the March 31 deaths of three black teens. The girls were driving a stolen Honda Accord that plunged into a pond in a north St. Petersburg cemetery while being followed by deputies, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The three St. Petersburg girls — Dominique Battle, 16, and Laniya Miller and Ashaunti Butler, both 15 — drowned when the Honda sank to the bottom.

"We're here to send a message that at the end of the day that these were three girls who lost their lives," said co-organizer Devan Cheaves. "They were 15 and 16 years old, and the narrative that's being put out there by both law enforcement and the media is disgusting. No kid deserves to die because of poor decisions. We're out here to get people to stop and pay attention. Those could have been your girls."

Activists have questioned whether deputies contributed to the girls' deaths by chasing them before they drowned, and whether those deputies did enough to try to save the girls. Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri defended his agency's actions, saying that his deputies were only following the girls and that it was too risky for them to attempt a rescue in the dark, mucky water.

But those activists are also angry that Gualtieri highlighted the girls' previous arrests for auto theft and blamed their deaths on the girls' guardians. Battle's mother announced last week that she plans to sue the Sheriff's Office, likely for wrongful death.

After leaving the intersection, the activists walked a block west on Ulmerton to the Sheriff's Office administration building. They chanted for about five minutes and left.

"Ya'll let those girls die!" an activist shouted to a pair of deputies standing watch nearby.

Miller's mom, Natasha Winkler, watched the rally from a distance. She called it inspiring.

"It's tragic that they were so young and missed so much, but it makes me feel good to know all these people stand behind me and they're willing to risk their lives just to make a point that they were young," Winkler said, "they were kids, and they didn't deserve to die."

Dream Defenders organizer Ashley Green said she felt a little less brave during the protest when the Mustang driver started inching forward. Just before that, Green said, a woman in a Chevrolet sedan "looked me dead in the eye and ran over my foot."

The 26-year-old St. Petersburg resident wasn't seriously injured. But why endanger yourself in traffic?

"Because I'm alive, and there are a lot of people who don't have that luxury right now," Green said. "They can't, but I will."

Contact Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3374. Follow@tmarrerotimes.