A George Floyd protest in Oklahoma City on Saturday turned violent in the overnight hours as some in the crowd smashed windows and threw rocks and glass at law enforcement.
The large crowd was mobile, starting near NW 23rd Street and Classen Boulevard before moving south to near the Oklahoma County Jail and continuing to disperse and reorganize in the area well into the early hours of Sunday morning as police attempted to scatter the group with tear gas.
One person in the crowd was hit with a tear gas canister, leaving a large welt. Protester Rain Gonzalez was assisting the man after helping to move him away from police officers.
“The police, I don’t know if they’re scared of black people. I don’t know if they’re intimidated. I don’t know if their egos are too large. But there’s a serious brutality problem in this country,” Gonzalez said. “It’s not getting solved. And this George Floyd, he just happened to be caught on camera. If he wasn’t this would not be happening.”
Local news reports showed a group of people waving a flag bearing a hammer and sickle attempting to stir the crowd up — and succeeding — early on, and protesters attempting to stop the vandalism being committed by some. More than a dozen people were arrested.
Protests are erupting across the country in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota after graphic videos showed an officer holding his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes as Floyd pleaded for his life while other officers looked on. That officer, Derek Chauvin, was arrested Friday on third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.
A Black Lives Matter rally is planned in Oklahoma City for Sunday afternoon.
