A protest in California turned violent when masked demonstrators smashed windows and threw objects at police. Demonstrations around the country continued over a New York City grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man.
Officer Jenn Coats, a spokeswoman for the Berkeley Police Department, said several businesses were looted and damaged and two officers were injured when a splinter group broke off from a peaceful demonstration on Saturday night in that California city. Protesters threw rocks, bricks, bottles, pipes and other objects at officers, damaging some squad cars. By early Sunday, at least six people were arrested, Ms. Coats said.
Thousands of demonstrators have protested peacefully in New York and elsewhere since the announcement on Wednesday that a grand jury would not indict a white officer in the death of Eric Garner, a black man who repeatedly gasped “I can’t breathe!” while he was being arrested for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. The arrest was captured on video.
The decision closely followed a Ferguson, Missouri, grand jury’s choice not to indict a white officer in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old. The scope of the demonstrations and the lack of violence were moving to Garner’s mother and widow.
“It is just so awesome to see how the crowds are out there,” said Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr. “It just warmed my heart.” Garner’s widow, Esaw Garner, said she saw demonstrators from her apartment window and told her son, “Look at all the love that your father’s getting.”
Officers have said the outcry over the grand jury decision has left them feeling betrayed and demonised. “Police officers feel like they are being thrown under the bus,” said Patrick Lynch, president of the police union. Garner’s family members joined the Rev. Al Sharpton on Saturday as he laid a wreath at the site on Staten Island where Garner died July 17 in a confrontation that started when police tried to arrest him.
Protests continued in New York City for a fourth day with several dozen people lying down on the floor of Grand Central Terminal and marching into stores in Times Square. There were no reports of arrests.
Protests have also been held in Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas and a number of other cities.
In Seattle, several hundred people marched downtown to police headquarters on Saturday. Authorities said a group then split off from the main protest and tried to get onto a roadway. Police say some protesters threw rocks at officers. Seven were arrested. Sharpton announced plans for a march in Washington, D.C., next Saturday to protest the killings of Garner, Brown and others and to press for change at the federal level.
