Protests spread in wake of George Floyd death in US
Demonstrators marched, stopped traffic and in some instances lashed out violently at police as protests erupted Friday in a large number of U.S. cities following a killing of George Floyd after a white officer pressed a knee into his neck while taking him into custody in Minnesota.
In Phoenix, Denver, NEVADA, Los Angeles and beyond, a large number of protesters carried signs that said: “He said I can’t breathe. Justice for George.” They chanted ”“No justice, no peace” and “Say his name. George Floyd.”
After hours of tranquil protest in downtown Atlanta, some demonstrators suddenly turned violent, smashing police cars, setting one burning, spray-painting the iconic logo sign at CNN headquarters, and breaking right into a restaurant.
The crowd pelted officers with bottles, chanting “Quit your jobs.” People watched the scene from rooftops, some laughing as skirmishes broke out. Demonstrators ignored police demands to disperse. Some protesters moved to the city’s major interstate thoroughfare to attempt to block traffic.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms passionately addressed the protesters at a news conference: “This is simply not a protest. This is simply not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.”
“You are disgracing our city,” she told protesters. “You are disgracing the life span of George Floyd and almost every other person who has been killed in this country. We are much better than this. We are much better than this as a city. We are much better than this as a country. Go back home, go home.”
Bottoms was flanked by rappers T.I. and Killer Mike, together with King’s daughter, Bernice King.
Killer Mike cried as he spoke.
“We must be much better than this moment. We must be better than burning down our own homes. Because if we lose Atlanta what have we got?” he said.
After Mayor Bottoms appealed for calm, the violence continued. More cars were set on fire, a Starbucks was smashed up, the windows of the faculty Football Hall of Fame were broken, and the iconic Omni Hotel was vandalized.
In Brooklyn, crowds of demonstrators chanted at police officers lined up beyond your Barclays Center. There have been several moments of struggle, as some in the crowd pushed against metal barricades and police pushed back.
Scores of water bottles flew from the crowd toward the officers, and in exchange police sprayed an eye-irritating chemical at the group twice.
The names of black persons killed by police, including Floyd and Eric Garner, who died on Staten Island in 2014, were on signs carried by those in the crowd, and within their chants.
“It’s my duty to be out here,” said Brianna Petrisko, among those at Foley Square in lower Manhattan, where most were wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Our country includes a sickness. We need to be out here. Here is the only way we’re going to be heard.”
In Houston, where George Floyd grew up, several thousand persons rallied in front of City Hall. Police had apparently taken into custody a woman who had a rifle and had tried to make use of it to incite the crowd.
Jimmy Ohaz, 19, originated from the nearby city of Richmond, Texas.
“My question is how many more, just how many more? I simply want to reside in a future where we all are in harmony and we’re not oppressed.”
