RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Richmond, Virginia, police headquarters was the target of protesters for the second night in a row as officers formed a barricade around the building late Saturday night.
A dumpster was set afire near the police headquarters, which had its front windows broken out Friday night. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the police fired tear gas to move crowds away from the building.
Several blocks away near Virginia Commonwealth University hundreds of protesters blocked streets chanting “George Floyd,” the black man who died Monday after an arresting officer in Minneapolis pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck while he was on the ground handcuffed.
Media reports showed video of protesters hurling what appeared to be water bottles at a police car, which moved through the crowd and sped away. A police cruiser was burned in the violence on Friday night, along with a city bus.
The previous night, a police cruiser and a dumpster near Richmond Police headquarters had been set on fire. A Richmond television reporter covering the protests was struck by a thrown bottle. Later, a city bus was set ablaze. Police responded by spraying chemicals. Virginia Capitol Police said Saturday that Capitol Square will remain closed Saturday.
In Hampton Roads on Friday, hundreds of protesters, white and black, marched from Fort Monroe to Interstate 64 to close the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. They entered the highway shortly before 9 p.m. and stopped traffic in both directions, causing delays before moving on, newsoutlets reported.
The protests in Virginia were similar to those carried out across the nation in response Floyd’s death. His arrest Monday was caught on camera and he could be heard saying “I can’t breathe” while a white officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes. Chauvin was charged Friday with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
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