“That could’ve been me,” Christopher Harvey told Heard on the Hill. “It could’ve been someone I knew.”

The legislative assistant to Texas Rep. Lizzie Fletcher is from Houston, and on Saturday he joined thousands of demonstrators in Washington as they protested police brutality and racial injustice following the killing of another Houston native: George Floyd.

“It was an amazing feeling to see so many people there from different backgrounds,” Harvey said of the march that began outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building and moved toward the White House.

The Hill staffer walked alongside fellow members of the Congressional Black Associates, friends in the Senate Black Legislative Staff Caucus and colleagues who provided each other support, while strangers provided food, water and face masks.

“It was a really electric feeling out there,” said Michael Ahn, describing the event organized by Freedom Fighters D.C.

The press aide for Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett and co-president of the Congressional Korean American Staff Association joined his friend and others in the crowd for one reason.

“It was a good display of people in unity,” he said. “I think this is a message that’s long overdue.”

The road ahead seems long, but the recent protests feel like a positive step to Harvey, along with a House bill unveiled Monday aimed at holding police officers accountable. 

“There’s a lot left to accomplish,” he said. “I feel good knowing we’re headed in the right direction.”

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