Multiple cities across the U.S. exploded into outcry on Wednesday night, just days after Minneapolis resident George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died while in police custody.
In contrast to the peaceful protests that spawned the Minneapolis streets on Tuesday, the demonstrations Wednesday descended into chaos soon after the sun fell.
Images show hundreds of demonstrators gathering around the Third Precinct headquarters, and later an apartment complex and several businesses on fire.
A fire burns in an AutoZone store during a protest Wednesday, May 27, 2020, in Minneapolis against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody earlier in the week. (Christine T. Nguyen/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
Police documented incidences of looting, and local reports highlighted a number of shops such as Target and a liquor store were targeted. The frenzied night also brought with it another loss of life, as a man was found unresponsive on a sidewalk near Bloomington and Lake Street, believed to have succumbed to a gunshot wound.
The police said the deadly shooting was connected to the looting of a pawn shop, whereby the business owner allegedly opened fire.
The death of Floyd, whose arrest was captured on video by several bystanders – showing the man panting that he could not breathe as a police officer jarred a knee into his neck for eight minutes until he was rendered motionlessness – also spawned demonstrations through the streets of Los Angeles and Memphis.
In Los Angeles, around 1,000 people from the Black Lives Matter chapter converged downtown in a call for justice on Wednesday night — with dozens blocking the 101 Freeway, one of the city's main traffic arteries.
Demonstrators protest for George Floyd in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday, May 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Local reports and footage show a police cruiser on the scene being assailed and its window shattered, with a man seemingly riding on its hood as it drove away before rolling to the ground. He was later hospitalized.
The Los Angeles CBS affiliate reported that several could be seen burning an American flag. Despite the violent twist the demonstrations took, no arrests were made.
Demonstrators shut down the Hollywood Freeway in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, during a protest about the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis earlier in the week. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Meanwhile, scores took to the streets in Memphis, congregating outside the Memphis Midtown Police precinct and prompting authorities to shutter a portion of the road.
Nashville's News25 reported that the crowds moved through the city well into the night, chorusing Floyd's haunting last words, "I can't breathe."
The Black Lives Matter protesters were, according to WREG NewsChannel 3, met by counter-demonstrators belonging to the Confederate 901 – an activist outfit that takes on the 901 Memphis area code and bills itself as "a group of patriots who stand up for the Constitution and freedom." Despite an apparent exchange of words, tensions between the two did not escalate.
More demonstrations protesting police violence are planned in the upcoming days, including one in Seatle on Saturday.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who has demanded the arrest of the police officer who had his knee on Floyd, has called for calm during the demonstrations.
The demonstrations come at a time when racial tensions are flaring following the recent shooting death of jogger Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and a time when local leaders are urging residents to wear masks, practice social distance and stay home when possible, as the coronavirus pandemic drags on.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement Thursday that the federal investigation into Floyd's death is a "top priority." Four officers involved in the incident were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department earlier this week.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "kneeling on a suspect's neck is allowed under the department's use-of-force policy for officers who have received training in how to compress a neck without applying direct pressure to the airway. It is considered a 'non-deadly force option,' according to the department's policy handbook."
However, "a chokehold is considered a deadly force option and involves someone obstructing the airway," and the police department's handbook mandates that officers "only an amount of force necessary that would be objectively reasonable."
No charges have been filed in connection with Floyd's death.
