GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The death of George Floyd inspired Terry Willis to leave his Alabama home.
"Watching that video inspired me to do something. I decided to walk a thousand miles from Huntsville, Alabama to the exact location where George Floyd was murdered," Willis said.
The 1K Mile March gained a national following and midway through Willis' journey his childhood friend Anthony Brown, who hails from Michigan, decided to join.
But there was one problem, Brown was on supervised release from federal custody, which required him not to leave the state without approval. He had recently served time for fraud and identity theft charges.
"We knew he was on parole, we knew he couldn't leave the city or the state so we called his parole officer and we told him what I was doing, his parole officer was aware of who I was and he told us no. So, Anthony decided to leave anyway because he believed in the cause," Willis said outside the federal courthouse on Wednesday.
When Brown returned to Michigan, he was taken into federal custody for the violation of his supervised release. Followers of the 1K Mile March sprung into action, making calls and writing letters to the court in Grand Rapids calling for his release.
On Wednesday, Brown went before Magistrate Judge Phillip J. Green at the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan in Grand Rapids.
Just before his hearing, a small group of people gathered outside the courthouse. They had driven from other cities and states to attend Brown's hearing, moved by their interactions with him during the 1K Mile March.
"We just want justice. He marched for justice, change and equality, and we are looking for that," said Kay Jones, who drove to Grand Rapids from St. Louis, Missouri. Others traveled from Minnesota and Detroit, and hundreds of others watched the court hearing via Zoom.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said during the hearing that it was withdrawing its request for detention. Judge Green said it was likely he would have released Brown regardless of the withdrawal.
The attorney's office also said associating with Terry Willis, who has prior felony charges, is not allowed under the terms of supervised release without approval. The attorney's office said they were giving approval for Willis and Brown to associate as long as the association "continued to be a positive one."
Green said the two were working together on issues of racial justice.
"Judge Green made it clear that he was aware at least that Mr. Brown was trying to be a part of a very important movement and very important demonstration in this country," said Heath Lynch, Brown's attorney.
Brown was released Wednesday and able to walk out of the courthouse alongside Willis and the group of supporters, who had traveled to Grand Rapids in hopes of seeing this result.
"If we want to we can support each other and the fact that we did and this man just walked out," Willis said. "I mean it's amazing."
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