LAFAYETTE — Around 100 people bundled up for an overcast, cold and windy Saturday afternoon and marched down busy Ambassador Caffery Parkway, touting signs and shouting slogans decrying police-related deaths of unarmed black men.

Featured at Saturday’s rally, which began and ended in the parking lot for the Target plaza, was the Rev. Victor White Sr. and wife, Vanessa White, parent of 22-year-old Victor White III who died March 3 after receiving a gunshot while handcuffed in the back of an Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office patrol car.

“Talking about my son and seeing you all come out supporting the cause is gut-wrenching on one end and exciting on the other,” White Sr. said, sporting a T-shirt of his son’s photograph and bearing a sign claiming him to have been murdered.

White III was arrested late March 2 on Alvin Street in New Iberia, minutes after deputies responded to a report of a fight at the nearby Hop In gas station and convenience store on Lewis Street. He was arrested after deputies located apparent marijuana and powder cocaine on him during a consensual pat-down.

Once at the Sheriff’s Office (for questioning, according to the police report), White III became “uncooperative” with the deputy trying to remove him from the car, according to a Louisiana State Police statement. As the deputy signaled for help, White III is said to have produced a handgun and, despite being handcuffed, shot himself once, killing himself.

The autopsy report released in August clarified the gunshot entered his right chest area near his nipple and armpit and not his back as State Police initially reported and upheld the self-inflicted conclusion, citing gunpowder residue tests. However, Dr. Carl Ditch, the Iberia Parish Coroner, went a step further and called it a deliberate suicide because White III, according to deputies, said something to the effect of “he was gone” prior to the gunshot.

State Police said the gun was not one carried by deputies in Iberia Parish but have not said whether the deputy missed the weapon in the frisk or if it came from elsewhere. The White family have repeatedly and publicly disputed the conclusion, characterizing it as a cover-up.

“The way our son was taken from us, there’s no closure,” White Sr. told the crowd Saturday. “His daughter, one day, is going to ask, ‘PawPaw, what happened to Daddy?’”

The U.S. Justice Department is currently investigating the incident and 16th Judicial District Attorney Phil Haney has said he will wait until that is completed before making a move on the State Police investigation results. Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal requested the State Police probe himself.

The crowd marched on the sidewalk, showing signs to motorists and calling for justice in various synchronized chants. Signs and cries also included the likes of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice, all unarmed black males killed under questionable circumstances by white police officers in recent months.

Drivers honked and used hand gestures to show solidarity or disagreement. Some loudly revved engines to drown out the noise while other rolled down windows to shake hands. At the march’s conclusion, men in a silver pickup truck drove by and quickly sped off after tossing two Thunder Bomb firecracker clusters at the crowd, which included children.

There was no violence or confrontation, even after the firecrackers, and the crowd only stepped into the street to cross at intersections. It staged a “die-in” in front of IHOP about a mile down the road and turned back. March organizers emphasized peace before walking.

“You can’t be violent,” said Alex Johnson after the march. “They are violent. That’s what they want. They want us to be violent. We have to be an example for change.”

Denise Gobert, who organized the march via Facebook, said she went into it without expectations but was nevertheless happy with the 100-plus-person turnout and uneventfulness of the march itself, jeers and firecrackers aside.

“That’s fine,” she said on those who disagreed with the march. “We still did get a lot of support and that’s wonderful. It’s Saturday. It’s cold outside. It’s windy, but people showed up.”

Khadijah Rashad, a New Iberia woman who has followed the White III case, said she was pleased with Saturday’s results.

“I feel really blessed at the overwhelming turnout, even though it should have been 100 times more,” she said. “We are marching for those who can’t march.”

The march did not attract police involvement save for the end when several officers arrived in response to the firecrackers to interview witnesses.