At least 70 arrested at NYC protest over death of George Floyd
Crowds of demonstrators clashed with cops in Lower Manhattan on Thursday during a protest against the police-involved death of George Floyd.
At least 70 people were arrested in the latest national demonstration sparked after Floyd, who was black, died in police custody in Minneapolis on Monday.
Dozens of protesters — many in protective face masks but otherwise flouting social-distancing rules — gathered around 3 p.m. to march around Union Square, chanting, “No justice! No peace!” and “F–k the police.”
By early evening, the demonstrators made their way down to the steps of City Hall and then to the World Trade Center site, before swinging north.
At Albany off West Street, protesters pulled dozens of oversize traffic barrels off a construction flatbed and rolled them into the street.
Scuffles periodically erupted between the protesters and the scores of officers who responded.
Video on social media showed cops taking people down to the ground and using batons.
A police source said protesters tossed water bottles, hoping to land them on cops’ heads.
“We don’t know the substance that’s in the bottle. Everybody assumes water and it could be other substances,” the source said.
Sources said one officer was injured after having a trash can tossed at him.
At least five of the arrests were made near East 13th Street and Fourth Avenue.
Of the 70 arrests, at least one was for criminal possession of a weapon, for someone who allegedly had a knife at the protest, and one was for assaulting a police officer, for the person accused of throwing the garbage pail.
Another person tried to grab a cop’s gun, while someone else was charged with blocking a roadway, the sources said.
“I came out here tonight because I’m a black person and I’m tired of seeing black people die,” said Navah Little, a 20-year-old student.
“I think the police department has turned into a symbol of white supremacy,” she added. “I think the protests showed how childish and weak the NYPD really are. Because we came as civilians.”
Riots in Minneapolis over the past two nights have turned violent, with stores being vandalized and burned in some cases as protesters call for the officers involved in Floyd’s death to be charged.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday evening activated the state’s National Guard in an apparent attempt to keep the peace.
Protesters have also marched in Los Angeles to demand justice in Floyd’s death, and in Denver, Colorado, on Thursday evening.