Protesters-vs-police unrest sparks across US cities

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Demonstrations have turned into violence as protesters and police clashed in various cities in the US over the weekend.
• In Portland, protesters continued to show rage over the death of George Floyd and the deployment of federal officers ordered by President Donald Trump.
• Floyd’s brutal killing on May 25 while in police custody has triggered the mass protests held across the country in the past weeks.

Several US cities underwent violent unrests on Saturday night up to early Sunday. Demonstrators and federal officers got into a scuffle outside a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon; city police were forced to retreat against protesters in Seattle; vehicles were set on fire in California and Virginia rallies.

In Seattle, the city’s Capitol area was flooded with massive strikes as cops were forced to retreat into a precinct station early Sunday. Based on the footage shared online, some protesters stayed in the area as officers took refuge in the department’s East Precinct about 1:00 am before the vicinity cleared out.

In Portland, another night of protests sparked on Saturday evening as thousands of people flocked near the city’s federal courthouse building. The demonstrators, who were calling against George Floyd’s killing and the presence of federal officers deployed by President Donald Trump, had broken a fence surrounding the city’s federal courthouse building where the feds were stationed.

In Austin, Texas, a protester, who allegedly was armed, was shot and killed on Saturday night after witnesses said he approached an approaching car that was being driven through the ongoing march.

Michael Capochiano, a rally participant, told the Austin American-Statesman that the dead protester carried a rifle. The car’s driver fired several shots at him before fleeing away. The police said they had captured the driver.

In Oakland, California, demonstrators turned into a frenzy as they lit up a courthouse, destroyed a police station, broke windows, shot fireworks, vandalized the area with graffiti, and pointed lasers at the officers.

In Richmond, Virginia, a hundred protesters went to the capital in support of the Portland protest. A dump truck was burned as they faced off with the police late evening on Saturday. The police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

In the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, police said that a protester beat and shot a person after a car drove through the marching demonstrators on an interstate highway. Officers did not provide further details on the shooting. There was no information if the shot person was in the car. The protesters caused devastating damage to the courthouse, the police said on Twitter.

The weekend unrests had stemmed from the recent weeks of protests over police brutality and racial injustice that were sparked by Floyd’s fatal police killing in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died while in police custody after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes.