Parts of New York City descended into chaos for a fourth night on Sunday as largely peaceful demonstrations over the death of George Floyd turned into jarring scenes of flaming debris, human stampedes and looted storefronts, The New York Times reported.
As the night wore on violent confrontations erupted throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. Protesters threw glass bottles and trash at the police, while large groups of officers charged down streets, pushing crowds of demonstrators aside and using batons as they made arrests.
In Lower Manhattan, some protesters shouted angrily at looters who were breaking into shops like a Duane Reade drugstore.
The city has been reeling from days of chaotic confrontations between protesters and the police that have resulted in dozens of injuries, hundreds of arrests, smashed windows and burned police vehicles.
On Sunday night thousands of demonstrators fanned across the city in different groups. One group crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and another briefly shut down the Manhattan Bridge.
Some groups paused every few blocks to take a knee, while others gathered in Times Square in Manhattan and outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
A demonstration at Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan began with raised fists and a moment of silence. Many surrounding businesses had boarded up their windows in anticipation of trouble.
The protests in New York were part of escalating demonstrations in dozens of cities across the country that were sparked by a video capturing the final moments of George Floyd, who was black, as a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Be the first to comment