On the night of May 30th, crowds of people began to gather in Washington, Richmond, and Manassas, adding to the number of demonstrations in response to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer, Derek Chauvin, in Minneapolis, MN.
In Washington, numerous cases of looting and vandalism led to 18 arrests and a major confrontation between police and rioters, in which 11 police officers sustained injuries. The D.C. National Guard came to the aid of the police acting as crowd control, while protesters gathered by the hundreds outside the White House. Flash bangs and tear gas were even deployed as violence sprung between protesters and police. Protesters then moved into Georgetown, looting and smashing in the windows of several businesses they passed. On May 31st, a fire was started in the basement of St. John’s Church, though the building remained mostly intact.
In Richmond, the situation wasn’t much better. Most of the protesters concentrated themselves near the State Capitol building, some splintering off to set off fires, vandalize, and loot local stores. There was even an instance of a VCU Campus building catching on fire during the chaos. It remains unknown whether that building was occupied or not at the time. At the State Capitol, protesters managed to rip down a wire fence barrier, moving in on the building, where they confronted around a dozen police officers. Businesses that have lasted years have been all but destroyed, and people’s livelihoods along with them.
Protesters also made their presence known in Manassas in Northern Virginia, blocking traffic and sending the city into a panic. A Virginia state trooper, who was called in to help county police manage traffic, was struck in the leg with a brick, and another was hit in the leg with a rock. Protesters had continued to throw projectiles at passing vehicles, ranging from bottles and cans to bricks and rocks. A Virginia State Delegate, Lee Carter, was also present in the Manassas protests, and ended up being sprayed by some sort of chemical agent by the police.
The entire nation continues to endure countless instances of riots and protests, largely at the expense of local business owners, innocent bystanders, and the police. Violent protesters have even targeted innocent people, for example in Rochester, where a woman was beaten near-death. Derek Chauvin, the man responsible for setting off the riots, has been arrested under the charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, with a bail set at $500,000. It is unknown how much longer this civil unrest will last, or if it will become worse than it already is. Regardless, the memory of George Floyd, and the nationwide consequences of his death, will surely be kept alive.
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