Ishmael El-Amin-led protest draws more than 2,000 at Ball State

By Star Tribune

June 5, 2020 at 5:12PM
Ishmael El-Amin
Ishmael El-Amin (Howard Sinker/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

More than 2,000 people attended a protest Thursday night in Muncie, Ind., that was organized by Ball State basketball player Ishmael El-Amin, who was a high school star at Hopkins.

The protest was called to honor George Floyd, who was killed on the May 25 in south Minneapolis, a death that resulted in the arrest of four Minneapolis police officers.

El-Amin told the crowd: "From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you all. I see a lot of familiar faces out here, I see a lot of faces I've never seen before, some people that don't even know who I am. We got so much support in Muncie. I promise you guys, you don't know how much it means to me."

The rally organizers included El-Amin's roommate, Sultan Benson, who had a professor call the campus police about him earlier this year when Benson refused to change seats in a classroom.

Afterward, El-Amin told the Star Press that having a number of coaches take part in the protest meant a lot to him: "It lets me know that Ball State sports is behind the cause, is behind what's going on around here, around the world. hey want to see change."

El-Amin is the son of former Minneapolis North and University of Connecticut basketball star Khalid El-Amin.

You can read more about the protest here.

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