Thousands gather in Dallas for second day of protests against police brutality
Thousands gathered in Dallas on Saturday for a second day of protests against police in response to the death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who apparently died of asphyxiation after a video showed a police officer kneeling on his neck.
The protest Saturday afternoon started out nonviolent. Marchers chanted things like “Say his name: George Floyd,” “Black lives matter,” and “No justice, no peace, no [expletive] racist police.” At times, the procession stretched six or seven blocks through downtown.
About 4:30 p.m., police began firing tear gas canisters into the crowd in front of City Hall after some protesters on bikes stood in front of a SWAT vehicle and tried to block it. Officers began ordering the crowd to disperse. Many protesters ran, but some threw the tear gas canisters back at officers to cheers from the crowd.
By about 10:45 p.m. Saturday, Dallas police said they had made 74 arrests of protesters who will be charged with inciting a riot. Of those, 27 were arrested on McKinney Avenue, 10 on city freeways, one at the intersection of Elm and Ervay, and 36 in the area of 1500 Young St., the department said on Twitter. Police said protesters blocked traffic on freeways, threw rocks and looted businesses including a Whole Food grocery and a cigar and doughnut shop.
The protests in Dallas are among several ongoing across the nation, unfolding as one of the four officers involved in Floyd’s arrest was charged with murder. While cities like Minneapolis have seen rioting, looting and arson, others like Fort Worth had seen more peaceful demonstrations Friday. Late Saturday night, at least two protesters were arrested in downtown Fort Worth, after police said they were participating in an unlawful assembly.
Protests Friday night started off similarly peaceful in Dallas, but as the night grew old a smaller group of protesters blocked traffic and clashed with police, who wore riot gear and carried shields. Deep Ellum businesses had their windows smashed and storefronts looted.
Adrian Lara, co-owner of Picole Pops in Dallas, said he supports the Black Lives Matter movement and has even made anonymous donations. That made damage to his shop that much harder to understand.
“It’s heartbreaking because we are supporters of this cause,” he said.
Lara said rioters smashed the store’s front windows and stole equipment, but his support for the cause is still strong.
On Saturday protest leaders, carrying megaphones and starting chants throughout the march, urged attendees multiple times to abstain from causing property damage.
“We don’t need to do that,” one leader, who declined to give her name, told the gathered crowd during a stop on Lamar Street in front of the Bank of America Building. “That doesn’t help us and they’re already scared of us.”
Prairie View City Councilman Xante Wallace, who attended Saturday’s protest, said, “Police are allowing their officers to get off scot-free and that has to change. I came here to protest for all marginalized people.”
Kate Hearne, 30, of Garland told the Star-Telegram she watched the video of the arrest that led to Floyd’s death “and I got infuriated. I want all four of those cops charged.”
Hearne said she believes the protests are effective until rioting starts.
“That’s a different group of people, but they’re connected to us in everyone’s minds,” she said “Violence raises awareness, but I don’t think it’s the right way. A lot of people think there isn’t a problem, and that’s the problem.”
One protester, Dellandra Musa, 26, told the Dallas Morning News that she went to City Hall on Saturday because she believes police policy reform is needed.
“We need policies that put Black Lives Matter into the equation of All Lives Matter,” Musa told the Morning News. “We shouldn’t fear the people who are supposed to protect us.”
Lemuel Randolph told the Dallas Morning News he attended the protest for his children.
“To know that I’m 54 years old and I have two African-American young men that I’m trying to push into the world and to see these kind of things continue unabated — it just gets to you,” he said.
When the protest returned to Dallas City Hall after a second trip through downtown, the demonstration seemed peaceful until tear gas was fired later in the afternoon.
But businesses in downtown boarded up their windows in anticipation of further violence. Shea Conner, owner of Deep Ellum Candy Co., said he was expecting further rioting and looting in the district Saturday night. All the windows on his shop were boarded up by mid-afternoon.
Jason Quiroga, operating partner of Wing Bucket in Deep Ellum, said he hired armed security to protect his customers and business Saturday night. He made preparations Saturday afternoon to board up his restaurant as soon as it closed.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and Police Chief U. Renee Hall held a press conference Saturday afternoon to address the aftermath of Friday night’s protests.
“I understand and share the pain of last night’s peaceful protesters,” Johnson said in a statement on social media. “But we also had a handful of people who exploited the demonstration and chose to destroy things at a time when we should be building each other up.”
At the press conference, Johnson said he expected further protests Saturday night. “To those looking to take advantage of our community, you need to stay home,” he said. “We will not tolerate selfish lawlessness in the city of Dallas. Dallas is better than that. Dallas deserves better than that.”
Hall told the Associated Press one police officer received a non-life-threatening injury during the melee Friday, and police vehicles had windows and windshields shattered and tires slashed.
Gov. Greg Abbott sent more than 1,500 Texas state troopers Saturday to various cities to help control protests over the death of Floyd, who was a Houston native, the AP reported.
“Texas and America mourn the senseless loss of George Floyd and the actions that led to his death are reprehensible and should be condemned in the strongest terms possible,” Abbott said in a news release. “As Texans exercise their First Amendment rights, it is imperative that order is maintained and private property is protected.”
The troopers were being sent to Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, the governor said.
While authorities in Dallas used tear gas, those in Houston used pepper spray to disperse crowds that numbered in the hundreds, the AP reported.
Hall told the AP officers were making sure the protest was peaceful when violence began.
“Then all of a sudden bricks start hailing, hitting our squad cars, hitting the officers ... I almost got hit with a brick,” Hall said.
This story was originally published May 30, 2020 at 5:28 PM.