10:51 p.m. ET, June 5, 2020
No police presence as protesters sing birthday tribute to Breonna Taylor near White House
From CNN's Alex Marquardt
Protesters march in Washington on Friday night.
CNN
A large crowd of peaceful protesters in Washington, DC, is heading for Lafayette Park near the White House.
CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt said the protesters are "finishing this week how they started it, by protesting peacefully."
Sitting on some 250 yoga mats donated by a social worker's advocacy group, they sang "Happy Birthday" to
Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in March and who would have turned 27 today.
A new street sign has also been erected at the intersection of 16th and 8th streets reading "Black Lives Matter Plaza."
"This is where that fierce crackdown happened against those protesters on Monday night who were protesting peacefully right before the President gave that speech in the Rose Garden, when he declared himself the 'law and order' President," Marquardt said.
Noticeably absent is the presence of law enforcement. However city officials are expecting a bigger demonstration on Saturday.
"These protesters have been out here all week by the hundreds, by the thousands, gathering right here at Lafayette Park by the White House, and behind that fence, which has been reinforced throughout the course of the week, is almost no law enforcement that we can see," Marquardt said.
"It is the least amount of law enforcement that I have seen all week and that speaks to how peaceful these protests have been. There is no curfew in this city of Washington tonight. But now city officials are saying that they are expecting a huge demonstration tomorrow. The biggest they think that they anticipate since they began in the city of Washington."
Watch: