People in the stairwell of the University of Arizona Student Union gaze down upon more than 2,000 people at a Celebration of Black Lives rally on the University of Arizona Mall in Tucson on June 6, 2020. 

 Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

UPDATE 8 p.m.: A large group of people attending Saturday’s Black Lives Matter Tucson: Celebration of Black Lives were stopped by police officers after they marched from the UA campus to Congress Street following the event.

They were met by officers under the Interstate 10 Overpass as the 8 p.m. state curfew came and passed.

Over a loudspeaker, police informed the group that the curfew was in effect and told them to go back to the UA. Still, the group continued west on Congress.

People in the crowd hold up their fists as the Black national anthem is sung at the start of Celebration of Black Lives rally on the University of Arizona Mall in Tucson on June 6, 2020.

4 p.m.: Saturday’s Black Lives Matter Tucson: Celebration of Black Lives came together in four days, far less than the six weeks organizers say it usually takes to plan such an event.

The frenzied preparations were worth it: Tucsonans packed the University of Arizona mall by the thousands to remember the lives of black people killed by police around the country.

The event brought out people of every creed and color to hear speeches, watch musical performances and dance for three hours as temperatures peaked in the mid 90s.

Attendees displayed signs featuring George Floyd, who was killed last week when a police officer in Minneapolis put a knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. Also remembered were Breonna Taylor, killed inside her Louisville home in March during execution of a search warrant, and Ahmaud Arbery, whose February shooting death while jogging was captured on video.

Hip Hop artist Cash Lansky gets the crowd to salute as he wraps up a three hour Black Lives Matter rally on the mall at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., June 6, 2020.

Attendees like Nai Smith echoed the goal of the event's organizers, which was to signal to non-black allies to continue their support to the Black Lives Matter movement after the fury over Floyd's death passes.

“I hope that the non-black people and all of the white people that pulled up are actually about (change) afterwards. I hope they’re going out and signing petitions," Smith said. "I want people to be donating to all kinds of organizations. I want people to actually put change out there.

“I don’t want them to show up just to show up.”

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