A peaceful demonstration against police violence descended into chaos as protesters marched in Minneapolis one day after an officer was accused of killing an unarmed Black man by kneeling on his neck while he was face-down on a city street. Members of the Minneapolis Police Department in riot gear greeted protesters with mace, tear gas and rubber bullets despite having seen four officers get fired for their role in the what critics have called the “murder” of George Floyd, whose death was recorded by bystanders warning cops they were going to kill him.
Source: Star Tribune via Getty Images / Getty
The Memorial Day police killing prompted hundreds if not more than 1,000 protesters to flock Tuesday afternoon around the intersection where Floyd, 46, was killed. They first gathered outside the Cup Foods store on Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street where the brazen killing took place before marching towards the police department’s 3rd Precinct, where the fired officers are believed to have worked. The protest ran well into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
That included the apparent lead vigilante cop, Derek Chauvin, who could be seen steadily applying pressure to Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed and not fazed at all by the witnesses recording him killing a handcuffed man begging for his life. Chauvin and three other Minneapolis cops were fired on Tuesday.
Source: Star Tribune via Getty Images / Getty
Multiple people were shown apparently being hit by rubber bullets fired by the police, including one woman who appeared to have been shot in the head or face by one of the non-lethal projectiles.
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There were reports of vandalism and looting by purported protesters, though it was not clear who the alleged culprits were. There was also a report on the police scanner that someone was riding around shooting a BB gun at police. That seemed to give police the green light to go on the offense.
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Aside from shooting rubber bullets and macing protesters, cops also fired off tear gas at the crowd.
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Protesters vowed to keep his Floyd’s alive in an effort to achieve legal and social justice in the Minneapolis area’s latest high-profile police killing of a Black person.
Source: Star Tribune via Getty Images / Getty
Signs and chants of “Black Lives Matter” could be seen and heard as aerial shots of the protest showed just how massive the demonstration actually was.
Source: Stephen Maturen / Getty
Chance The Rapper even made an appearance at a protest in Chicago and addressed the crowd with some words of frustration from seeing yet another unarmed Black man killed by police.
But the cops apparently didn’t listen to Chance The Rapper’s words and instead put on their tactical gear to confront protesters with weapons that are supposed to be non-lethal but certainly not non-violent. Images of people getting mace sprayed in their faces by police and having tear gas thrown at them and rubber bullets shot at them were all over social media. Photo agency Getty Images was also on the scene to document the protest that assembled in peace as a reaction to police violence only for cops to apparently incite more violence at the demonstration.
Source: Star Tribune via Getty Images / Getty
Scroll down for more moving images and video footage from the protest and to see the extent of the violent police response to the unnecessary and preventable police death of Floyd for the nonviolent alleged offense of forgery.
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