Police Brutality and a Nation on Fire
Protests over the death of George Floyd continued to rage throughout America on Saturday. Demonstrators clashed with hostile police forces from New York to Los Angeles, Seattle to Miami, and in dozens of cities in between. Over the course of the afternoon, evening, and into early Sunday morning, countless videos emerged depicting the carnage. Flaming police cars, tear gas canisters billowing smoke, and militarized law enforcement were featured throughout — as were several horrifying examples of police brutalizing the citizens they are supposed be protecting and serving.
Here is some of what we’ve seen:
Atlanta, Georgia
Video of this incident in Atlanta has gone viral so I'm putting up the full native broadcast footage of police tasing, then pulling two people out of their car after breaking into it pic.twitter.com/wYxC1k2uaf
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 31, 2020
Columbia, South Carolina
Found the source of the flash bangs. Police line moving down Gervais now from Park. pic.twitter.com/R44l7PAh3j
— WIS News 10 (@wis10) May 31, 2020
Chicago, Illinois
Cops didn’t like me filming the burning car so they came at me with batons. Hitting my bike.
Ahhm here’s the audio pic.twitter.com/tfaOoVCw5v”— John Cusack (@johncusack) May 31, 2020
Erie, Pennsylvania
Protests started in Erie.. a girl here was peacefully protesting, after 15 minutes she was maced and kicked.. #PoliceBrutality pic.twitter.com/nC6HhXMpCe
— Nick / nak5132 🍐 (@the7goonies) May 31, 2020
Fargo, North Dakota
SOUND ON: What you’re hearing is tear gas being deployed now in downtown Fargo. pic.twitter.com/90Lx5wVRbK
— Bailey Hurley (@BaileyHurleyVNL) May 31, 2020
Flint, Michigan
Amazing scene unfolding in Flint, Twp, Michigan. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson has joined protesters in a peaceful march. Read More: https://t.co/4ioyUnymNv @MichStatePolice @GovWhitmer pic.twitter.com/nMCVuXQ0TZ
— Mid-Michigan NOW (@midmichigannow) May 31, 2020
Los Angeles, California
Tensions are EXTREMELY high in Los Angeles and it's only 3pm. Happening in the Fairfax District. Watch AIR7HD now on @ABC7 pic.twitter.com/LSswWa9bSf
— Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) May 30, 2020
Louisville, Kentucky
I cannot believe what I just witnessed. They pulled up onto the square with a police siren on and did this. #Louisville pic.twitter.com/65o2lgZCJh
— Natalie Neysa Alund (@nataliealund) May 30, 2020
Madison, Wisconsin
A man just got into a flaming cop car and drove it down the street in Madison, WI pic.twitter.com/aRaLNGZ3HI
— Lawrence Andrea (@lawrencegandrea) May 31, 2020
Miami, Florida
Fire trucks flying through…vehicle on fire…protesters now shouting at police armed in riot gear from several feet away. #GeorgeFloydProtests #Miami @MSNBC @NBCNews pic.twitter.com/mPLNRdreLu
— Sam Brock (@SamBrockNBC) May 31, 2020
Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
Share widely: National guard and MPD sweeping our residential street. Shooting paint canisters at us on our own front porch. Yelling “light em up” #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #JusticeForGeorge #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/bW48imyt55
— Tanya Kerssen (@tkerssen) May 31, 2020
Ali Veshi and his CNN crew come under fire from #Minneapolis police with tear gas and rubber bullets.
“There was absolutely no provocation. The police just drove up, split the crowd in two and started firing in both directions.” pic.twitter.com/GTXKU1fTdz
— Chad Loder (@chadloder) May 31, 2020
Minneapolis protester: “We're trying to … stand up for the basic rights of humanity. … I want to be able to go in a white neighborhood and feel safe. I want to be able, when a cop is driving behind me, I don't have to clench and be tense, OK? I want to be able just to be free” pic.twitter.com/EKjrij326V
— CNN (@CNN) May 31, 2020
New York, New York
Wtf!!! #BlacklivesMaters #brooklynprotest pic.twitter.com/S1oet8JC0x
— Pierre G. (@pgarapon) May 31, 2020
My hands are shaking and I am sick to my stomach. I thought someone was going to die. #NYPD barreling down Flatbush THROUGH protestors. What the hell???!! 1/2 #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #BLACK_LIVES_MATTER #brooklynprotest #nyc #BlackLivesMatter #GeorgeFloydMurder pic.twitter.com/tmJ8tyKTGy
— Ella Ryan (@zzelladonatella) May 31, 2020
This boy had his hands up when an NYPD ofcr pulled his mask down and pepper sprayed him. @NYPDShea? Mayor @BilldeBlasio? pic.twitter.com/YtXDOoVckA
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) May 31, 2020
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philly a zoo rn pic.twitter.com/Lhq46KEDSB
— Face Windu (@NasKW_) May 30, 2020
Portland, Oregon
Police push protestors out of the park using Tear gas and flash bangs. 55min until curfew #portland pic.twitter.com/F2f7nf2Hgn
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) May 31, 2020
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City cops shove down an elderly man with a cane for the crime of standing along the street: pic.twitter.com/PCLkHqQtJg
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 31, 2020
Seattle, Washington
Just a snippet of the chaos last night. Peaceful #GeorgeFloydProtests in Seattle turned violent and destructive.
Police cars set on fire. You see a smoking canister being thrown at officers here. I was reporting live and trying to run away from tear gas.
Hoping for calm today. pic.twitter.com/0KATnRPofC
— Deedee Sun (@DeedeeKIRO7) May 31, 2020
Widespread protests erupted across the nation on Saturday in response to the death of George Floyd. This video, by Evan Hreha, shows a child screaming after a Seattle police officer had sprayed protestors with mace. #abc7ny https://t.co/OoLYfSPvPt pic.twitter.com/rXBPM6iY8e
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) May 31, 2020
Washington, D.C.
Protesters just took another part of the barricade in Washington DC near the White House pic.twitter.com/pAtbT2lGt1
— Sasha the Russian (@nunchuckery) May 30, 2020
This is America.
