Protests erupt across US after police killing of George Floyd
Thousands of protesters stormed the security perimeter of
Barclays Center in New York as protests spread across the United States over
the killing of George Floyd, a Minneapolis black man who died after being
pinned by the neck under a white police officer's knee.
Police made scores of arrests at Friday's massive
demonstration in Brooklyn, loading cuffed protesters onto city buses lined up
on Atlantic Avenue, shutting down a major thoroughfare.
A diverse group of protesters cheered to hip hop music and
tried to argue about police brutality with police officers in riot gear, who
occasionally lunged into crowds to pluck people out for arrest after bottles
and other projectiles were thrown.
The demonstrators at a “We can't breathe” vigil and rally in
lower Manhattan were pressing for legislation outlawing the police “chokehold”
used by a city police officer in the 2014 death of Eric Garner, who was also
black.
Atlanta
In an impassioned speech, Bernice King, the youngest
daughter of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., implored people to go
home after more than 1,000 protesters marched to the state capitol from the
Centennial Olympic Park, blocking traffic and an interstate highway along the
way.
“The only way we get what we really want is through
non-violence,” Bernice King said in her father's hometown. “Let's do this the
non-violent way to deal with the evil of our time.”
King was assassinated in 1968, a year after race riots
spread across many big cities.
The Atlanta demonstration turned chaotic and at times
violent. Fires were burning in downtown Atlanta near the CNN Center, the
network's headquarters.
At least one police car was among several vehicles burnt.
Windows were smashed at the CNN building, along with store fronts. Police
pushed back the crowd, but they hurled bottles at officers.
Minneapolis
Hundreds of protesters defied an 8 p.m. curfew to gather in
the streets around a police station burnt the previous night.
“We are out here because we, as a generation, realize things
have to change,” said one marcher, Paul Selman, a 25-year-old black man, who
had just graduated with a master's degree in English from Minnesota State. “We
need peace.”
Peter McMahon, 26, a resident of the area around the police
station and owner of two nearby properties, said, “This is my generation, and
these are the people I went to high school with,” adding, “This is not a
surprise. I have lost good friends over this Black Lives Matter shit.”
Detroit
Hundreds in the automotive capital joined a “March Against
Police Brutality” late in the afternoon outside the Detroit Public Safety
Headquarters. Many chanted, “No justice, no peace.” Some carried signs that
read, “End police brutality” and “I won't stop yelling until everyone can
breathe.”
A 19-year-old man protesting in the city was shot dead on
Friday night by a suspect who pulled up to demonstrators in a sport utility
vehicle and fired gunshots into the crowd, then fled, the Detroit Free Press
and other local media reported. Police could not immediately be reached for
comment.
Denver
Denver saw a second day of protests after hundreds marched
peacefully through its downtown demanding justice for Floyd.
Houston
Hundreds gathered on Friday in a protest organized by the
group Black Lives Matter at City Hall. The crowd spilled onto Interstate 45's
entrance ramp near downtown chanting, “I can't breathe,” and “No justice, no
peace.”
Louisville
After a night of violence in which at least seven people were
shot, police in the Kentucky city braced for more protests over the killing of
Floyd and several others, such as Breonna Taylor, shot by police in her
Louisville home in March.
