There have been many incidents of police violence during the George Floyd protests, a series of protests and demonstrations against police brutality and racism in policing. The protests began on May 26, 2020,[1] following the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white man employed as a Minneapolis police officer, who knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds during an arrest the previous day.[2]
Lawyer T. Greg Doucette and mathematician Jason Miller compiled a list of videos posted on Twitter showing evidence of alleged police brutality, which as of July 26, 2020 contained more than 830 videos.[3][4][5] Investigative journalism website Bellingcat documented over 140 police violence incidents against journalists during the protests.[6] The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker found there were almost as many press freedom violations in one week as for the entire year in 2019.[6]
Definitions
Police have standard procedures for ways to manage protests that may employ legally warranted forms of violence. In contrast, police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of violent force by law enforcement. Brutality is an extreme form of police misconduct or violence and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality can include but is not limited to physical or verbal harassment, physical or mental injury, property damage, inaction of police officers, "indiscriminate use of riot control agents at protests", racial abuse, torture, beatings, and death.[7][8] Human rights include right to equal protection under the law and the rights to liberty, security, and freedom from discrimination.[8] This article lists incidents of police violence during George Floyd protests that may or may not have been legally warranted.
List of incidents
Police violence incidents during the George Floyd protests
Peaceful protesters were gassed by police. Elisabeth Epps, a member of the Denver Police use-of-force committee, resigned her post after she was shot by police projectiles.[12]
A Houston Police Department officer riding a horse was filmed trampling a woman. Mayor Sylvester Turner apologized for the incident.[13][14] The woman later filed a lawsuit against the Houston Police Department and the city of Houston.[15]
An officer in the tail car of a caravan of squad cars was filmed indiscriminately spraying a chemical agent out the window onto bicyclists and people in a crosswalk.[16]
KMGH-TV news crew reported police targeting them with paintballs and tear gas. Their photographer was shot four times and their camera was destroyed.[23]
Police shot tear gas at a couple in a vehicle waiting at a traffic stop in Denver. When the man came out of the vehicle to confront the officers because his pregnant wife was in the vehicle, the officers ordered him to move along. He refused and the officers opened fire on him and the vehicle with pepper balls.[25][26]
80 people were arrested as police clashed with protesters on the Vegas strip, including two journalists. Charges against the two journalists were later dropped.[27][28]
Swedish Expressen correspondent Nina Svanberg was shot with a rubber bullet and VG photojournalist Thomas Nilsson had a red laser sight trained on him.[36][37]
New York City Police Department officer Vincent D'Andraia shoved a woman, Dounya Zayer, to the ground at a protest in Brooklyn.[39] The officer was recorded throwing down the protester with both hands while allegedly calling her a "stupid fucking bitch"; the protester was hospitalized after the assault and said she suffered a seizure.[40] On June 9, the officer was charged with assault, criminal mischief, harassment and menacing.[41] A $387 thousand settlement was reached in 2022.[42]
As police cars drove past protesters, an officer opened his passenger door, causing it to hit a protester. The suspected perpetrator received modified duty.[43]
A man was shot in the eye with a pepper ball. A different person was shot by pepper balls in the groin, although it is not known exactly what date this occurred.[45][46]
San Jose Police Department officer Jared Yuen drew national attention on social media due to videos of his behaviour. Yuen was videoed holding a projectile launcher, telling a protester "Shut up, bitch", then within seconds he leaned around another officer to fire a projectile at close range, which caused a fight. In other videos, Yuen is filmed saying: "Let's get this motherfucker", or seen "smirking, licking his lips and rocking back and forth, looking a little too excited to be facing off with protesters", reported San Jose Inside. The videos were viewed over 10 million times, and thousands called for Yuen's firing. SJPD chief Eddie Garcia reacted that Yuen "let his emotions get the best of him, and it's not right", but he also called Yuen a "kid" and "good cop", "who has put his life on the line for the city multiple times." As a result, Yuen was removed from protest duties.[49][50][51]
Police used tear gas after a protest turned violent. Tear gas spread into a nearby home, causing a resident who inhaled some of it to suffer lingering health effects.[54]
Officers from the Atlanta Police Department pulled two black students from their car, broke a car window, and used tasers to shock them. This came after officers arrested a classmate of theirs whom they wanted to pick up; an officer ordered the students to continue driving, which they complied with. One officer claimed that one of the students possessed a gun, but no gun was found. One of the students stated that he was punched over 10 times in the back after being arrested. Within days, six officers were charged as a result of the incident; two were fired and four were put on administrative leave. The Fulton County District Attorney, Paul Howard, stated that the two college students were "innocent almost to the point of being naive".[55][56][57]
16-year-old Levi Ayala suffered brain damage after being shot in the head with a less-lethal round by Austin police officer Nicholas Gebhart.[58][59][60] Gebhart and several other officers were later indicted for shooting protesters with non-lethal projectiles.[61]
Police shot a man taking photos in the eye with a marking round, causing the man to suffer vision problems. The man filed an excessive force complained but it was ruled not sustained, as the Citizen Complaint Authority was not able to determine which officer fired the round.[67]
A sheriff's deputy fired beanbag round at a man passing out water, hitting him in the back of the head. The same deputy fired a beanbag that blinded a different man on the same date. The man hit with the beanbag round later filed a lawsuit.[69]
22-year-old Sarah Grossman was pepper-sprayed at a demonstration and later died in the hospital from what was determined to be natural causes.[72] An autopsy determined that Sarah Grossman died of coronary artery dissection due to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.[73]
Journalist Kevin Krause photographed a woman who said she had been walking home with groceries when she was struck in the forehead by a police projectile.[74]
Brandon Saenz, a 26-year-old black man, was at a protest outside City Hall when he was shot in the face with a non-lethal projectile by police. The projectile shattered the victim's left eye.[75][76] In 2022 two of the officers who fired projectiles were indicted on multiple counts.[77]
Police fired tear gas and beanbags at protesters. Protesters stated police fired at them without warning, while Dayton's police chief said projectiles were fired in response to water bottles and rocks being thrown.[78]
A non-protester was blinded in one eye after being struck by a police projectile. The victim was walking to his car when he was reportedly shot in the eye, drive-by style, by police.[80]
As a crowd walked away from police, one individual was assaulted by police, physically and verbally. The protester was tackled by a second officer and sprayed by a third.[81]
A seated 21-year old protester was filmed being kicked to the ground by an officer.[83] The officer was suspensed on June 15.[84] A final settlement was agreed upon in 2022.[85]
A three-year-old girl was reported to have been intentionally gassed by police. According to the mother, who was not a protester, the officer "dead-looked at my daughter and threw the canister in front of her and it exploded up into her face."[90]
One officer pepper sprayed a protester and seconds later another fired a tear gas canister into his upper body, hitting him in the shoulder.[91][92][93][94]
Several officers pepper sprayed a man who was yelling at them from the side of the street. Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith defended the actions.[97]
Police shot a man with a tear gas canister, causing a compound leg fracture. He later filed a lawsuit against the Missouri State Highway Patrol and several troopers.[100]
Police fired at a veteran who had his hands up at the intersection of Beverly Boulevard and Grove Drive.[112] It was reported in 2022 that the protester who was shot got a $1.25-million settlement.[113]
A group of 20 Minneapolis police were filmed marching down a residential street, ordering people on their front porches to go inside. After a few demands, one of the officers shouted "light 'em up!" and marker rounds were shot at them.[116][117]
On May 30 and 31, Minnesota law enforcement slashed the tires of unoccupied vehicles parked near protests. Video of the incidents showed indiscriminate slashing of every vehicle in a Kmart parking lot. Several journalists were affected by the event. The Minnesota State Patrol and the Anoka County Sheriff's Department admitted on June 8 to slashing tires. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol stated that tires were slashed in "a few locations", "in order to stop behaviors such as vehicles driving dangerously". The Department further stated that some targeted vehicles contained potentially harmful items, to which Snopes commented that there appeared to be a logical "disconnect behind the idea of cutting tires when threatening objects were allegedly located inside" the vehicle.[121][122]
Police in an unmarked vehicle encountered 27-year-old Jaleel Stallings and several others guarding a gas station from looting in defiance of the curfew warning. Police fired rubber bullets at the group without warning or announcing themselves as police. Stallings returned fire with actual bullets, but surrendered when police identified themselves. Police beat Stallings for roughly 30 seconds after he surrendered. Stallings was charged with multiple charges including attempted murder but was acquitted in July 2021.[126][127]
In late 2022, Justin Stetson, one of the officers who beat Stallings was charged with third-degree assault.[128] On May 8, 2023, prosecutors offered Stetson a plea deal allowing him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and avoid jail time, which Stallings objected to.[129] Nonetheless, a judge accepted the plea agreement. Stenson pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and one count of misconduct as a public officer, with the condition he never work as a police officer in Minnesota again.[130] Stenson had already taken a disability retirement in August 2022 and the plea did not affect his state pension.[129]
Two NYPD vehicles were recorded ramming into protesters[132][133] In April 2022 an oversight agency recommended discipline be taken against the officers involved.[134]
A medical worker at the Kings County Hospital Center left work and came across officers chasing an individual, and began to record the incident. Officers began to beat the worker for about 90 seconds, causing bruises and a head wound that required seven staples to close.[136]
A SEPTA Police officer struck two protesters with a baton. The officer was fired in July 2020 and indicted on assault charges in October of that year.[138]
Police struck a protester with batons and threw him to the ground. The Rockford Police Department stated that a board of police officials determined all officers had acted appropriately.[145]
Police used tear gas on protesters after curfew. Prior to the tear gas a police officer was filmed telling armed members of a right-wing group to leave the sidewalk and go inside so "it doesn't look like we are playing favorites."[146]
During a live news broadcast, police were filmed shoving an elderly man, causing him to fall to the pavement.[147][148] The District Attorney decided not to press charges against the officer, saying the man himself did not support criminal charges.[149]
An officer was filmed firing a beanbag gun at a man lying on the ground with his hands in the air. A spokesman for the Salt Lake City Police Department said the officer was not one of theirs.[150]
A seven-year-old child was maced by police, with the aftermath documented by a viral video. Hours after the protest, Seattle police arrested the person who recorded the video.[152]
An officer placed his knee on the back of the neck of a suspect; after onlookers shouted for him to remove his knee from the man's neck, his partner pulled it off.[153][154]
20-year-old African American Texas State University student Justin Howell was shot in the head with a less lethalbean bag round by an Austin Police Department officer while protesting outside the police headquarters in Austin, Texas. Fellow protesters were instructed by police to carry the injured Howell toward them for medical aid, however, those protesters were then also fired upon by police. Howell was left in critical condition, with a fractured skull and brain damage.[157][158] The officer who shot Howell was later indicted for the shooting.[159]
Boston Police were criticized for use of pepper spray during the protests. In one instance, a man with his hands up was pepper sprayed by several officers.[160]
Multiple people claimed police struck them with batons despite having their hands raised. Four people filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Boston and three Boston Police officers.[161]
Sheriff's deputies threw tear gas from a courthouse balcony. According to Chattanooga Police, they had not been informed that the Sheriff's Office would be using tear gas.[164]
Outside Brickyard Mall, police were filmed swarming a car, smashing its windows, and pulling an occupant to the ground. An investigation was opened.[165]
Police arrested a tattoo artist and pushed him against a window after curfew. The artist was painting a mural on a building with the owner's permission and was otherwise uninvolved in the protests.[167]
A deputy held a man's head down with a knee, while another repeatedly kicked him. Compton city officials called for the deputies involved to be dismissed.[169]
A police officer shoved a woman as she knelt. Video shows one of the officer's coworkers, a black woman, yelling at him after the incident. The officer who shoved the protester was identified and suspended pending investigation.[177] The officer was later charged with battery but was acquitted.[178]
A woman was shot in the face with a rubber bullet. According to police the detective was aiming at a different person when the woman accidentally walked into the line of fire.[179]
Police used tear gas about two minutes after an unlawful assembly was declared. An internal review concluded that police actions were justified, but a later independent review determined that police were too quick to deploy tear gas. A group of protesters filed a lawsuit against the city of Fredericksburg.[180]
During a protest near the Southlake Mall, police fired multiple pellets at a man walking to his car, before arresting and siccing a dog on him. Police also used tear gas on protesters.[181]
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was filmed arresting two women, with a male officer holding one of them. The officer's arm was positioned near her chest. She twisted free and took a few steps, officers fired pepper balls at her feet and struck her with batons. An officer then pressed her to the ground with his hand and a baton resting on her neck. When questioned by another woman, an officer shoved that woman back before she was subdued by police.[183] Multiple officers involved in this incident were reassigned on June 5.[184] The two women filed a lawsuit on June 29.[185][186] Two of the officers were indicted in August.[187]
Peaceful protesters, including a church group, were tear gassed after police attempted to arrest a man vandalizing a statue. Indianapolis's police chief apologized to the group.[188]
Police used tear gas on protesters outside the Tippecanoe County Courthouse. According to the Journal & Courier the use of tear gas came without warning, although the sheriff said he gave the order after an explosive was set off near the courthouse.[190]
Police used tear gas and pepper spray on protesters. One man was pepper sprayed seconds after he finished a live interview with a local news station.[191]
Police fired a projectile at a woman filming, causing her to lose part of her finger. She later filed a lawsuit against the Long Beach Police Department.[195]
Police grabbed a protester and shoved him to the ground before one put the protester in a chokehold. A report of the incident claims that no force was used.[200]
Police fired a projectile at a man near a highway on-ramp, striking him and causing him to lose vision in one eye. The man later received a $2.4 million settlement.[203][204]
Police used tear gas on a group of protesters standing in an intersection, including some children. The mayor of Murfreesboro defended tear gas use, saying it was necessary to remove protesters blocking the intersection.[207]
Police pepper sprayed protesters who attempted to enter police headquarters and speak to Mayor Justin Elicker. A councilman from nearby Hamden claimed police shoved one person down the stairs and hit another with a riot shield.[208]
A police trainee fired a beanbag round at a man in the Garfield Historic District, breaking part of the man's forearm. The man later sued the city of Phoenix and its police chief.[212]
Two officers pepper sprayed three women in a car at an intersection. The two officers were indicted, but charges against them were later dismissed.[214]
Police hit a man with a baton and shot him with bean bags. The city of San Diego said the people seen firing projectiles in the man's videos were sheriff's deputies, though the San Diego County Sheriff's Department stated they did not send officers to the protest. A lawsuit was settled in 2023.[219][220]
An officer fired a plastic sting-ball grenade at a protester from less than 15 feet away. The protester suffered a broken jaw and four of his front teeth were knocked out. The officer was later suspended for 20 hours.[224][225]
An officer fired a rubber bullet at a man who suffered a ruptured testicle and required emergency surgery. According to findings by the Santa Rosa Police Department the rubber bullet used was not authorized for crowd control. The officer was later suspended for 20 hours.[225]
An officer fired a rubber bullet at a man, striking him in the forehead. In September 2021 the city of Santa Rosa agreed to pay the man $105,000 following a lawsuit.[226]
Police fired a rubber bullet at a man helping others to safety, striking him in the back of the head. In 2021 the man filed a lawsuit against the city of Tampa, claiming he suffered from memory loss and migraines since the incident.[228]
Police tackled protesters while arresting them. The Waterbury Police Department stated the 28 people arrested were from an "antagonistic" group separate from peaceful protesters.[235]
Police fired smoke canisters and rubber bullets at protesters. According to The Palm Beach Post police began firing rubber bullets and smoke canisters right after police announced a curfew.[236]
Police targeted street medics in the crowd during protests at Pack Place, using rubber bullets and tear gas. At least one street medic and several protesters were injured by pepper balls and rubber bullets.[239]
Police were filmed firing less-lethal rounds at a man and punching him. Colorado Springs Police chief Vince Niski announced an investigation would be conducted.[245]
Police pushed, pepper sprayed, and beat protesters. A regional director from the American Civil Liberties Union accused police of kettling protesters and using excessive force against a child, journalists, and a legal observer.[249]
Police fired tear gas at a group of people lying on the ground. Police claim the group had been looting and destroying property, while protesters disputed this.[252]
State Police fired a bean bag projectile at a man leaving a protest outside the Arkansas State Capitol. In June 2022 the man filed a lawsuit against the State Police.[253]
Police used tear gas on protesters. About a year later in 2021 police chief LaRonne Armstrong apologized for the use of tear gas and announced that more than 33 disciplinary actions had been issued to officers who deployed it.[259]
Protesters were filmed kneeling with hands up as police pulled their mask and goggles off and sprayed them.[260][261] A Philadelphia Police officer was later charged with simple assault and reckless endangerment.[262] A mistrial was declared on May 8, 2023, and it was ruled the following August the officer's trial would be held outside of the state.[263][264]
A Temple University student was released from custody on June 3, after his arrest on June 1, on charges of assaulting an officer. Video showed an officer striking him in the head with a baton and another placing his knee on the back of his neck/head to pin the student's face to the street.[265] The officer who used a baton, Police Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna, was suspended and charged with aggravated assault.[266] Other incidents caught on video involving Bologna regarding the 2020 protests saw him tackling a female protester who had touched his bicycle, lunging at a journalist, and hitting a security guard.[267] Bologna was later fired, and multiple lawsuits were filed against him.[268]
Protesters on the I-676 were hit with tear gas from both sides of the highway. In 2023 the city of Philadelphia announced a $9.25 million settlement for protesters affected by tear gas, rubber bullets, and zip ties.[269]
Police used tear gas on protesters. A report noted that protesters had only one way to disperse from the standoff, to turn around and go back. One protester stated they were hit in the foot and leg by a canister.[276]
Police pushed and held down a pastor during a march. The pastor was released after officers learned he was a pastor. He later filed a lawsuit against the city and its police department.[279]
An AustralianSeven News crew conducting a live broadcast, were battered by police using a riot shield and clubs, while the cameraman was punched in the face. The incident prompted comment from the Australian Prime Minister and Opposition Leader. The reporter later testified in front of US Congress.[284][285]
Despite clearly showing press credentials, complying with police instructions, and the curfew not yet being in effect: an MPD officer; unprovoked, charged a BBC cameraman with a riot shield, knocking him backwards.[286][287]
Video appears to show a riot officer repeatedly stepping on a woman's phone as she was arrested. The woman can be heard on video claiming police are punching her boyfriend.[289]
Police tackled and arrested a freelance journalist. The journalist was charged with disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and failure to disperse, but the charges were later dropped.[290][291]
During a six-hour peaceful march from Bay View to the District 1 police station, police officers declared an unlawful assembly after empty water bottles were thrown by individual members of the crowd towards the police, and issued a ten-minute dispersal warning before firing tear gas and rubber bullets on the crowd of protesters.[300]
Earlier that same day, a group of protesters led by local organizer Frank Nitty II marched onto the I-794 bypass ramp, and were confronted by law enforcement officers, primarily from the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department. The group was ordered to halt and dispersed with deployments of tear gas and rubber bullets; Nitty was singled out from the group, had a firearm pointed in his face, was physically assaulted and dogpiled by officers "leaving him bleeding from his right elbow, hand, and wrist, and left arm". Officers tightly bound his wrists, cutting off circulation to his hands, and he was arrested and held in jail. No charges were brought against Nitty other than a County citation for walking onto the freeway; he pled guilty, paid the citation, and was released, before suing the officers involved in the incident.[301]
A water bottle thrown at police near the District 1 station that afternoon was later pictured and described as a "molotov cocktail" on the Milwaukee Police Department's Twitter profile; this drew widespread rebukes and was ultimately quietly corrected by MPD leadership.[302]
During a protest in Park Slope an NYPD inspector was filmed stepping on a man's neck. In 2023 the Civilian Complaint Review Board determined the inspector used excessive force and recommended he be terminated.[304]
Police fired at least 138 chemical munitions in an 18 block area, far exceeding federally-recognized safe levels of CS gas concentration. This included three types of tear gas.[305]
An officer fired a non-lethal projectile at a non-protester in a vehicle. The man claims he lost an eye because of the incident. The officer involved was placed on administrative leave.[306]
A protester filed a lawsuit against the San Jose Police Department claiming an officer tripped him before other officers fired non-lethal projectiles at him.[308]
22-year-old Argentine-American Sean Monterrosa was killed at 12:30 AM while kneeling with his hands raised above his waist when he was shot and killed with five bullets by a police officer. Police stated they mistook a hammer in Monterrosa's pocket for a gun. Police were responding to reported looting.[310]
Police used tear gas and flash bangs on protesters. The city council later passed a resolution indicating not to use tear gas and less lethal projectiles on peaceful protesters.[312]
An officer on a bicycle knocked down and detained a journalist from the Tampa Bay Times. The journalist was released after 10 to 15 minutes. Tampa mayor Jane Castor later issued an apology to the journalist.[315]
Martin Gugino, a 75-year-old man with a cane, was left bleeding from the head after approaching police officers and being shoved to the ground by the police. A video of the encounter shows an officer leaning down to examine him, but another officer then pulls the first officer away. Several other officers are seen walking by the man, motionless on the ground, without checking on him.[317] In February 2021, a grand jury declined to indict the officers, and in April 2022 they were cleared of wrongdoing.[318][319]
During a protest in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx, police kettled protesters and beat them with batons. A class-action lawsuit was settled in 2023.[320]
After a protest, a woman was forcibly dragged into an unmarked car by unidentified men in civilian clothing. Unwilling to reveal where the woman would be taken, one of the assailants threatened bystanders: "You follow us, you will get shot! Do you understand me?!" The San Diego Police Department later confirmed the individuals were law enforcement officers and claimed the woman had hit police with a protest sign.[321]
At the East Precinct, a 26-year-old protester was shot in the chest with a blast ball as she stood 25 feet from the police line. Her heart stopped and street medics raced her unconscious body away on a makeshift stretcher as flash grenades exploded around them. Following chest compressions she was revived then taken to Virginia Mason Hospital. Though she went into cardiac arrest again at the hospital, doctors were able to keep her alive.[325][326]
The day after Austin Police Department Chief Brian Manley announced that the department would no longer perform chokeholds or neck restraints, an officer detaining 19-year-old Jarrid Cornell knelt on his neck while he was already pinned to the ground by two other officers.[328]
As a protester walked surrounded by multiple officers, one of the officers stopped abruptly, causing the protester to bump into them. The swarm of officers then pulled the protester to the ground and placed him under arrest.[330]
Police dragged a teenager to the ground and zip-tied her after she was falsely accused of assaulting an officer. A police motorcycle ran over the teenager's foot prior to the incident. In 2022 a settlement was reached between the girl and the city of Raleigh in a lawsuit.[336]
Police arrested several people, including Indira Sheumaker. In June 2022 two officers sued Sheumaker—who had since been elected to city council—and other protesters, accusing them of assaulting officers and putting one in a chokehold. Sheumaker later countersued, accusing officers of putting her in a chokehold and shoving her.[342]
As a photographer tracking a protest march passed the Old German Beer Hall restaurant, an off-duty police officer and his wife objected to being photographed, threw beer into the crowd, and fought the group of protesters, resulting in property damage, concussions, and charges of battery and misconduct.[344]
After a woman drove through a crowd of protesters, police attempted to disperse the crowd, and one man was tackled from behind, tasered, and maced. According to hospital records the man has a fracture in his spine following the incident.[345]
In two separate incidents federal law enforcement agents grabbed protesters and forced them into unmarked vans. Both of the protesters were later released.[272]
Federal officers were filmed beating Navy veteran Chris David with batons and spraying him with pepper spray. David says he walked over to the officers to talk to them.[348]
Police threw a man to the ground. When the man attempted to get up, officers knocked him to the ground again. The man filed a lawsuit that was later settled by the city.[349]
A police cruiser hit a protester and drove away. The Anaheim Police Department claimed the cruiser hit the man by accident and that the officer drove away because of approaching protesters.[353]
An officer was filmed grabbing a protester from behind. Other officers were filmed throwing a photographer to the ground and shoving a woman on her knees.[357]
A Dane County Sheriff's Deputy fired tear gas at protesters as they left a protest. According to the Dane County Sheriff, Madison Police did not authorize the use of tear gas.[362]
Police used tear gas at a protest. When a homeowner told police gas had seeped into his house, where his son and son's friend were, another officer struck the homeowner in the back of the head with a baton.[364]
Video footage showed a slow-moving SUV being surrounded by police. Officers with batons surrounded the vehicle, broke its windows, pulled its driver and a passenger, Rickia Young and her teenage nephew, from the car, threw them onto the ground, and then pulled Young's 2-year-old son from the backseat. Young had to be taken to the hospital for injuries sustained in the arrest and was later released without charges. The Fraternal Order of Police posted a photo of a policewoman holding Young's son to Twitter and Facebook, claiming that the child had been found wandering the streets and that they were protecting him. The posts were later deleted.[369] The city settled out of court for $2 million in September 2021.[370] One of the officers was later fired and charged with assault, but was acquitted by a jury in 2023.[371][372][373]
^DeMola, Pete (May 18, 2021). "Albany Common Council still debates police use of tear gas". Times Union. Retrieved June 22, 2022. Lily Mercogliano Easton awoke in horror as tear gas crept into her home in the dead of night last spring following a volatile night of activism that devolved into violence. The mist coated her bedroom and shrouded everything inside, including her sleeping six-year-old daughter.
^Yeomans, Curt (May 30, 2020). "Four arrested, two police cars damaged during protests at Sugarloaf Mills over death of George Floyd". Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved September 25, 2022. Two videos from the encounter surfaced on Twitter Saturday night with the posters claiming it showed a Gwinnett police officer punching a white protester who was lying on the ground. A Gwinnett County police spokesman confirmed the video's authenticity.
^Clark, Jess; Bennett, Jared (June 9, 2020). "Protesters Say They Were Assaulted Before Arrest, Feared COVID-19 In Jail". WFPL. Retrieved May 24, 2022. Christian said Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers pulled them from the car and started hitting him with batons, yelling conflicting instructions.
^Reyes, Lorenzo (May 31, 2020). "Journalists blinded, injured, arrested covering George Floyd protests nationwide". USA Today. Retrieved September 25, 2022. Molly Beck and Lawrence Andrea, USA TODAY Network reporters for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, were tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed early Sunday morning in Madison, Wisconsin.
^Sacks, Brianna; Yandoli, Krystie Lee (June 1, 2020). "Cole Sprouse Was Arrested While Protesting Racial Discrimination And Police Brutality". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved October 7, 2022. A pair of first aid volunteers treated a man named Brandon Mitchell, who was bleeding from a rubber bullet wound on his back, and some demonstrators then said they wanted to leave, but told BuzzFeed News they felt unable to because of the police blockade.
^McMorris-Santoro, Evan; Brunelli, Kevin; Waldrop, Theresa (June 1, 2020). "Louisville fires its police chief over handling of fatal shooting during protest". CNN. Retrieved June 2, 2020. The police chief of Louisville, Kentucky, has been fired after officials discovered two police officers involved in fatal shooting of a man during a protest over George Floyd's death had not activated their body cameras.
^Deto, Ryan (June 1, 2020). "Police used rubber bullets, smoke, and chemical munitions against protesters during a march in East Liberty in honor of George Floyd". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved June 28, 2022. At around 8 p.m., CP News Editor Ryan Deto witnessed at least four people that were arrested by police. Protesters didn't confront the police line before the rubber bullets and smoke were fired. One protester got within 20 feet of the police line but did not get closer, then was shot and hit with a rubber bullet from that distance.
^Greenberg, Zoe; Purifoy, Stephanie (June 3, 2020). "Tensions boil over in Brockton following a calm planned event". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022. A Globe reporter who was hit in the face with pepper spray as police forced the crowd back was quickly aided by protesters, who poured milk over his face and eyes and led him back to his car to recuperate.
^"Peaceful Protesters Defy Curfews as Violence Ebbs". The New York Times. June 4, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2023. Police officers used pepper spray on Tuesday in Puerto Rico as more than 200 protesters wearing gas masks broke a 7 p.m. curfew.
^Powell, Meerah (July 30, 2020). "Demonstrators and Springfield Police, counter-protesters clash during protest". OPB. Retrieved July 3, 2022. As captured on video livestreams widely shared on social media, one Black Unity organizer, Tyshawn Ford was dragged on the ground by a Springfield police officer and punched in the head while being restrained.
