Black Lives Matter rally drew about 3,000 to the UA on Saturday

For 8 minutes and 46 seconds early Saturday evening, about 3,000 people stood silent on the University of Arizona mall in remembrance of George Floyd and the amount of time that a Minneapolis police officer fatally pushed a knee onto his neck.

They gathered for the Black Lives Matter Tucson: Celebration of Black Lives, the organization’s first official event since Floyd’s death.

Attendees also remembered Breonna Taylor, who was killed inside her Louisville, Kentucky, home in March during the execution of a search warrant, and Ahmaud Arbery, whose February shooting death while jogging was captured on video.

The event came together in four days, far less than the six weeks organizers say it usually takes to plan such a large gathering.

Watch now: Moment of silence at Tucson Celebration of Black Lives rally

All went smoothly until organizers arrived at the event to find UA police officers showing up despite assurances they would not be visibly present.

After more than an hour of negotiations, organizers said police vehicles left, but uniformed officers remained in view at the Student Union Memorial Center until less than 45 minutes before the event.

UAPD said it was operating under standard procedure by offering their presence for large campus events.

"However, when the event organizers expressed their dissatisfaction with UAPD presence, UAPD agreed to monitor the event and only respond to emergencies," a department statement said.

To organizers, the frenzied preparations were worth it: The turnout was unlike anything the group has seen in the city, said Tiera Rainey, a member of Black Lives Matter Tucson, who said previous events were evidence there was a lack of support in the community.

“I am heartened, I have never seen anything that looks like today,” Rainey told the cheering crowd. “But this is not the destination, this is the beginning! Are you committed to doing the work?”

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.

Time-lapse: Crowds at Tucson Celebration of Black Lives rally

They heard from speakers like Khalif, an 8-year-old Tucson boy, who encouraged those to support the mission of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Black Lives Matter is important to reality because people need to know that black people are people, too,” Khalif said. “In reality, all colors are great: black, brown, purple, orange — all colors are great. But right now, black people are in danger, we need to help them. Especially white people need to stand with the black people.”

Signs in the crowd featured the faces of Floyd, Taylor and Arbery, asked for justice and pledged support for Black Lives Matter.

“I really hope that in this moment, where it is undeniable that the way things are can no longer continue, that many of you here are truly asking yourselves, do you want to move on with us into the life that we all deserve, where we are all free?” speaker Karlyn Bradley told the crowd. “Or do you want to crumble and burn with all the structures that are currently falling and do you want to be swallowed and destroyed with them?”

By the event’s end, attendees like Nai Smith echoed the goal of the event’s organizers, which was to signal to nonblack allies to continue their support to the Black Lives Matter movement after the fury over Floyd’s death passes.

“I hope that the nonblack 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.”

Local rapper Cash Lansky capped the event with his songs of support and came away encouraged that things will be different going forward.

“I feel like we controlled the narrative and that was a beautiful thing,” he said. “I definitely think this was a great turnout. I’ve never seen people come together like in these last two weeks. It’s a sad situation, but it’s a beautiful thing to see all these people come together.”

Once the Celebration of Black Lives concluded, attendees began marching west on University Boulevard from Old Main to Fourth Avenue and downtown Tucson.

The crowd of protesters initially stretched far along the street as several chants — ranging from “Black Lives Matter,” “No justice, No peace, Defund the police” and “Whose streets? Our streets” — echoed.

A group of a few hundred people then made their way to Sixth Street, continuing to march through the Interstate 10 underpass, which turned into St. Mary’s Road, and continued south to the Congress Street underpass at I-10. Officers and protesters had a standoff as police blared over the loudspeaker that the state curfew started at 8 p.m.

Nearly an hour later, the remaining protesters marched back to the UA.

Photos: Black Lives Matter rally