As a wave of anguish and rage swept across dozens of U.S. cities during the weekend, hundreds of peaceful, but angry, protesters in the Lehigh Valley’s largest cities took to the streets to vent their frustration over the killing of a black man by a white police officer in Minneapolis last week.

Organized protest marches in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton attracted more than 2,000 in one of the largest mass demonstrations since the uprisings in the 1960s that left a number of cities in utter destruction. Among them was Newark, New Jersey.

Derek Chauvin, the police officer accused of keeping his knee on the neck of George Floyd for nearly nine minutes which resulted in Floyd’s death, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Three other white officers at the scene have been fired, but no charges have been filed during the continuing investigation.

In Allentown, an impassioned Mayor Ray O’Connell labeled what he saw in Minneapolis as “despicable,” and he pledged that under his watch as mayor Allentown police will “never do that to a human being.”

“I love this city,” O’Connell said. “We’re out here in solidarity. We can’t solve this alone, but, collectively, we can.” After the Allentown rally, protesters carrying signs and chanting headed for City Hall.

Organizers of the Bethlehem rally led protesters Saturday in chants, including “I can’t breathe,” the words uttered by Floyd at least a half-dozen times while he was pinned down by Chauvin who, with his colleagues, was investigating a report of a purchase made with a counterfeit $20 bill.

One organizer encouraged protesters to channel their anger when they cast their ballots during this year’s presidential and congressional elections “and vote out all the people who don’t care about us.”

After the rally at the Rose Garden in Bethlehem, protesters marched to City Hall.

In Easton on Sunday, protesters chanted “we’re not letting up” as more than 1,000 of them gathered in Centre Square then marched to the Northampton County Courthouse where the crowd was asked to observe nine minutes of silence to honor the memory of George Floyd.

Speakers stressed the need to be each other’s support during this time for crisis. The anger of the speakers was palpable. Several shouted obscenities through their megaphones as they addressed the crowd.

One speaker said of the big turnout, “This is beautiful, man, but where do we go from here?”

“No justice, no peace,” the crowd roared back.

The chanting at all three rallies was relentless. “Black lives matter,” “Enough is enough,” “What’s his name? George Floyd.”

The three Lehigh Valley protests were largely peaceful unlike others in Pennsylvania and across the nation. Looting, vandalism and arson were reported in Philadelphia, the King of Prussia Mall in Montgomery County, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.

Police and officials in all three Lehigh Valley cities were monitoring the protests, but police kept a low profile to make sure that their presence did not provide a fuse to the pent-up anger.

Because of the size of the crowds, social distancing was not possible. About half of the protesters wore facial coverings. Health professionals are concerned that the COVID-19 virus could spread much more easily in these types of settings.

Because both Lehigh and Northampton counties are still in the “red” designation of the state’s coronavirus color-coded system, events of this size are technically a violation, but when measured against the protesters’ First Amendment right to “peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances,” virtually no one was concerned with that technicality since the protests did not get out of hand.