Thousands Protest Death of Unarmed Black Man

Chaos in Minneapolis after police encounter ends in George Floyd's death
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 27, 2020 1:27 AM CDT
Things Get Ugly at Protest Over Death of Unarmed Black Man
People gather at a police precinct during a protest for George Floyd in Minneapolis on Tuesday, May 26, 2020.   (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)

The four officers involved in the death of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis on Monday night were swiftly fired, but there was chaos in the city nonetheless Tuesday night as thousands marched to protest George Floyd's death. The Star-Tribune notes the protest march began peacefully, but ultimately turned violent as protesters reached the Minneapolis PD's Third Precinct, where some smashed windows, threw rocks and other projectiles, and defaced the building and police cars. They also blocked traffic, per Fox 9. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades.

Protesters—many of whom wore masks and tried to spread out to maintain social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic, per CBS Minnesota—chanted "I can't breathe," which Floyd can be heard saying on video as an officer kneeled on his neck before he died. They called for the officers involved to be prosecuted for murder. "It’s real ugly," one protester said of the scene. "The police have to understand that this is the climate they have created, this is the climate they created." Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle reports on Floyd, 46, who hailed from the Texas city and was a "gifted athlete and hip-hop artist;" he leaves behind two daughters, one of them just 6 years old. (More Minneapolis stories.)

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