More protests against police brutality planned in Fort Worth, Dallas after tense night
Demonstrations against police brutality in Dallas and Fort Worth turned tense Saturday night after earlier peaceful protests.
In Dallas, police said rioting and looting led to dozens of arrests.
In Fort Worth, some demonstrators blocked traffic as they protested along Weatherford’s legal and justice corridor and nearby highways. Police arrested two people after ordering them to disperse.
More demonstrations are planned for Sunday afternoon and evening.
In Fort Worth, demonstrations are expected to continue near the courthouse on Weatherford at 5 p.m. Sunday. As of 1:30, about 15 people were already setting up in the area.
A vigil will be held in Dallas at Freedman’s Memorial Park and Cemetery from 3 to 7 p.m., and a march is planned for 5 p.m. starting at Klyde Warren Park, according to posts on social media. A prayer gathering “to pray for justice and against racism in our nation” also is reportedly planned outside Dallas police headquarters at 5 p.m.
Dallas police have announced a 7 p.m. curfew in some parts of the city for the next several days, while Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency in Texas, mobilizing the National Guard and state troopers to assist local police departments.
The demonstrations, which began in both cities and many others across the U.S. on Friday and continued into Saturday, are in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minnesota, after a white officer knelt on his neck for several minutes while he was being arrested.
Police and city officials have said the majority of Dallas-Fort Worth protesters have been peaceful, but those who participate in looting and rioting will be arrested.
In Fort Worth, protesters have marched through downtown and knelt in Sundance Square.
United Fort Worth, which helped organize the local demonstrations, demanded “the immediate release of anyone unfairly singled out for arrest during last night’s peaceful protest,” the group said in a news release Sunday.
A United Fort Worth lead organizer was arrested on charges of “interference with police duties,” a Class B misdemeanor, according to the release.
“Out of dozens of protesters engaged in similar behavior, the UFW organizer was the only person taken into custody, although one other person is believed to have been ticketed and released,” United Fort Worth said.
“We believe that one of our organizers was intentionally singled out for our repeated criticism of the criminal justice system, the Fort Worth Police Department, and the Sheriff’s Office,” said Pamela Young, who leads the criminal justice organizing for United Fort Worth.
United Fort Worth is demanding all charges be dropped.
The group said in a statement on Facebook shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday that the organizer has now been released from the Tarrant County Jail.
“Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the community bail fund,” the post said. “UFW will continue to steward those dollars in support of the people.”
The organizer was arrested about 10 p.m. Saturday, the group said. As of Sunday morning, he had been denied access to legal counsel and he remained in jail in a facility with 41 active cases of COVID-19, United Fort Worth said. “The arrest occurred despite a warning from Chief Ed Kraus that officers should weigh coronavirus-related risks before making an arrest in cases involving a nonviolent misdemeanor offense,” the release said.
Tracy Carter, a Fort Worth police spokesperson, said the two arrests made Saturday night came after one person tried to break through the police line and persisted after police ordered him to back away.
The other person arrested interfered with the first arrest, pulling at the first individual, Carter said.
In Dallas, peaceful demonstrations turned violent Saturday when police launched tear gas into the crowd after officers said people ignored orders to disperse. Demonstrators marched around downtown Dallas chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot,” “Say his name: George Floyd,” “Black lives matter,” and “No justice, no peace, no [expletive] racist police.”
Now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, 44, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
Floyd’s family is seeking an independent autopsy after the medical examiner said that Floyd’s death was caused by potential intoxicants in his system combined with being restrained, the Associated Press reported. The family says the autopsy does not address the effects of Chauvin’s actions, according to the report. The body of Floyd, a Houston native, will be returned to the city, Houston’s mayor said.
At times Saturday, the procession in Dallas stretched six or seven blocks through downtown.
Demonstrators were gathered at Dallas City Hall when the police fired the first volley of tear gas. The demonstrators fractured throughout downtown, leading to smaller groups facing off with police as officers fired tear gas and flash bangs, pushing protesters back one block at a time. By the end of the night, police arrested or detained 89 people, according to the department’s Twitter, which a police spokesman referred reporters to for information.
When rioting broke out, demonstrators looted a Whole Foods, a donut shop and a cigar shop, according to the police Twitter. Other buildings had windows smashed in, and several buildings and sidewalks throughout the city were marked with graffiti.
In one scene, a man who police said was attempting to protect his store from looters charged rioters with a machete. The protesters attacked the man and beat him, reportedly leaving him in critical condition.
Police said they found at least three guns and one Taser during arrests.
Not all demonstrators were facing off with police. Some like Elaine Sury, a 23-year-old from Denton, were busy behind the demonstrations making a solution of water and baking soda to wash tear gas out of people’s eyes.
Lawyer Jasmine Crockett is working to get peaceful demonstrators who were arrested released, but she said it’s been a hard process.
“It’s really just a ridiculous, inefficient process,” Crockett said.
She said some of her clients, who she is taking on pro bono, have already received orders for release but are still waiting in jail.
“It’s maddening that you’re arresting people protesting peacefully when Minnesota can’t make up their mind about whether to arrest the three cops who helped [officer Derek Chauvin],” Crockett said.
So far 17 of her clients have been released, Crockett said.
Crockett said she is asking friends and family of those arrested for videos proving they were not looting or rioting, but were indeed peacefully protesting or simply moving through the area when they were arrested.
In most cases it seemed that police were trying to push demonstrators out of downtown. Multiple parts of Dallas were locked down Saturday night as some demonstrators were unmoved by police efforts. Some of the cordoned-off areas were several blocks long, making it difficult for residents to get to their downtown apartments and for demonstrators hoping to leave to reach vehicles parked in the area.
Dallas police were supported by state troopers and officers from other departments. Toward the end of the night, Gov. Greg Abbott activated the National Guard to move into Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. More than 1,500 state troopers were deployed to those cities, as well.
Friday night, Dallas demonstrations ended with rioting in Deep Ellum, where demonstrators smashed windows, looted shops and left graffiti.
High and Tight barber shop in Dallas had a window smashed, but the shop was not looted. Others, like Picole Pops, had multiple windows smashed and products and equipment stolen.
Adrian Lara, co-owner of Picole Pops, said the damage and looting only amplified the financial pains experienced during coronavirus shutdowns.
When demonstrators left downtown Saturday, the streets were littered with tear gas canisters and rubber bullets fired by police — the latter taken home by some demonstrators as souvenirs — and street signs and barricades put in the roads to inhibit movement.
Trashcans were overturned and sidewalks were spraypainted with things like “ACAB,” meaning “all cops are bastards,” Black Lives Matter, BLM, George Floyd, and No Justice No Peace.
This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 2:52 PM.