A violent wave of protests erupted across South Minneapolis overnight on Thursday, with the police firing tear gas and rubber bullets as people set buildings on fire and looted stores days after George Floyd, an African-American man, died in police custody.
Floyd, 46, died on Monday after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a white police officer who pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes. A video of the arrest, in which he is heard pleading “I can’t breathe”, spread widely online, and was followed by protests in Minneapolis and around the country.
“They executed my brother in broad daylight,” Philonise Floyd told CNN on Thursday morning, breaking down in tears. “I am just tired of seeing black people dying.”
Four officers involved in the encounter were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department, and the FBI joined the investigation into the death of Floyd, a resident of St Louis Park, Minnesota. Minneapolis’s mayor called for the police officer who had pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck to be arrested and charged.
Unlike the first night of protests, when thousands gathered peacefully, the police reported widespread civil disobedience, looting and multiple fires beginning on Wednesday afternoon and stretching into Thursday.
“Tonight was a different night of protesting than it was just the night before,” said a police spokesman.
New York Times News Service