By DaLyah Jones

News Reporter

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Texas State University students joined in a silent protest on Wednesday in response to the recent shooting of an unarmed African American man in San Diego, California on Tuesday.

Students staged a “die-in,” which involved sitting on the stairs in front of the Stallions Statue with their mouths taped and fists held high for about two hours. Russell Boyd II, a co-planner of the event, said that the sit in was planned in a matter of hours.

“When a community experiences so much back-to-back and we don’t have time to really cope, you do what you see necessary to ensure that you are standing as a united collective, or as a community,” Boyd said.

Boyd also said the protest was in response to the series of police brutality issues around the country. Danielle Brisby, Graduate student and protester, said that she hopes that protest like this one helps to encourage other students to stand with the Black Lives Matter movement.

“It’s beautiful to see people of different races, creeds, nationalities or faith-base come together to for the support of humanity,” Brisby said. “It’s a beautiful cause and I love it.”

During the protest, students and faculty shared words of solace and their stories of overcoming oppression. This protest is one of the many events that have been organized in regards to social injustice. Last Saturday, during the Texas State football game against the University of Houston, students sat during the national anthem. Boyd said that Texas State has seen an increase in these protests and he hopes that it continues to grow.

“I hope that it will get to people who aren’t aware of their privilege or aren’t aware of black lives matter,” Boyd said. “It’s so sad that people of color have to validate themselves in a space that they too have a sense of ownership for.”

Texas State isn’t the only school seeing more protests around campus. Many other schools, like the University of Louisville and the University of North Carolina, have decided to join this movement. According to a study by the Washington Post, about 991 people were shot by police in 2015. It also found that about 40% of the unarmed fatalities were African American men.