Rioters took to the streets in 17 states to exact violent revenge on businesses, government buildings, and even members of the media as frustration over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis boiled over late Friday night.
Hours earlier, Officer Derek Chauvin, the man seen with his knee on Floyd’s neck in a bystander’s video, was arrested and charged with the murder.
The violence across America was set against the backdrop of a long national quarantine that has made tens of millions of Americans jobless, and a pandemic that has left more than 100,000 dead. It took approximately four days of protests for Minnesota authorities to place Chauvin under arrest, and by then, civil unrest had hit a peak in the city of Minneapolis.
On Friday, it spilled across the country.
In Atlanta, protesters set fire to a police vehicle, looted the College Football Hall of Fame, attacked the CNN Headquarters and attempted to gain entry to a mall, AJC reported. Someone also reportedly shot at an officer in a police car.
The last moments of @CNNValencia's live shot from the entrance of the CNN Center in Atlanta before he moved to another location. pic.twitter.com/B7ZlYyt6xz
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) May 30, 2020
Glass getting broken outside the main entrance to CNN's Atlanta headquarters; protesters cheer pic.twitter.com/EToiEj5Pom
— Fernando Alfonso III (@fernalfonso) May 29, 2020
Police in Louisville, Kentucky, were forced to user pepper bullets on protesters, even appearing to deliberately target a reporter and cameraman covering the scene, according to Business Insider. The Hall of Justice was also breached and set aflame by protesters.
Kaitlin Rust, a reporter for WAVE 3 News, was sprayed with tear gas while live on the scene in Louisville.
This just happened on live tv. Wow, what a douche bag. pic.twitter.com/dQKheEcCvb
— Christopher Bishop (@ChrisBishopL1C4) May 30, 2020
Protesters in Dallas, Texas, were seen damaging police cars.
BREAKING: cops make arrest on rioter in Dallas
Rioters are retaliating now by destroying more cop cars
A man tried to intervene and was maced!
This is the first confirmed arrest I’ve seen tonight pic.twitter.com/cYctCuXPST
— ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ElijahSchaffer) May 30, 2020
San Jose, California, saw protesters shut down a highway and smash the windows of police cars and other vehicles, BI reported.
Protesters in New York reportedly attempted to charge a Brooklyn police precinct near the Barclay’s Center where they attempted to gain entry, set fire to vehicles, and threw glass at police, according to New York Daily News. Two officers were hospitalized for concussions after one was hit by a garbage can and another was thrown to the ground, according to ABC 6 Action News. A third officer was punched in the face but not severely injured.
A lot just popped off at the protest for George Floyd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Pepper spray, batons, and several arrests. pic.twitter.com/ZuciQA82fe
— Jon Campbell (@j0ncampbell) May 29, 2020
Two police officers were injured in Columbus, Ohio, during the second night of protests after “rocks/bricks” were thrown at them, ABC 6 reported.
In Portland, demonstrators broke windows and set fire to the Multnomah County Justice Center, Oregon Live reported.
#portlandprotest pic.twitter.com/ELK6kbwAqa
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) May 30, 2020
The U.S. Secret Service ordered the White House to go on lockdown amid protests where individuals tried to jump the security barrier, according to NBC 4 Washington. The demonstration of approximately 2,000 individuals, according to NBC, eventually moved from the White House to in front of the Trump international Hotel.
Fox News reporter Leland Vittert and his crew were attacked by protesters in front of the White House.
W A S H I N G T O N #GeorgeFloyd protest moving from White House to U.S. Capitol pic.twitter.com/U7I1YMzsSK
— Lorenzo Hall (@LorenzoHall) May 30, 2020
Protests are expected to continue into the weekend.
Story cited here.
