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And I\u2019ve witnessed a protest that became violent. I\u2019ve seen protesters beaten with batons, relentlessly tear-gassed and running from officers shooting rubber bullets. I\u2019ve also seen a police car set on fire and officers duck to avoid being hit with objects hurled by angry protesters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The George Floyd protests, or at least the ones I\u2019ve been to, always start peacefully. Protesters show up upset, of course. But violence is not their mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So why are protests escalating? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I walked over to the Barclays Center on the evening of Friday, May 29, the sun was still out, and the crowd was eager to welcome anyone who showed up to louden the collective voice, no matter their age, race or ethnicity.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n At that point, police officers, many of whom were dressed in full riot gear, flanked both sides of the lot outside of Barclays, closing in the protesters and preventing everyone from spilling out onto the street. There were also undercover cops mixed throughout the crowd, wearing street clothes and white armbands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I understand law enforcement’s role in a protest is to keep the peace. They are necessary to prevent opportunists who attend protests only to loot and destroy from doing so. But from the beginning, the dynamic of Friday\u2019s protest was off. By showing up with so much force, the police clearly were exhibiting an \u201cus vs. them\u201d mentality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This mentality transformed into action, as the police, seemingly overwhelmed by the number of people showing up at Barclays, began to use their weapons to subdue those they believed to be acting out<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Protest chants were interrupted as protesters helped clean out the eyes and noses of those who had been doused with pepper spray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And then, what seemed to be just minutes after, the police deemed the protest to be an unlawful gathering. It was like a flip of a switch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bull horns sounded the alarm that it was time to leave. Police, carrying riot shields and positioned shoulder-to-shoulder, started marching in militarized fashion to disperse the crowd. They began beating people, firing pepper spray and arresting those who refused to move or were simply slow to respond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mind you, the protesters — who were there to protest police brutality — didn\u2019t take kindly to this. All they had, though, were their words. And any who spoke too loudly suffered the same consequence as those who were slow to move out of the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At this point, I had been run off to a side-street with a few other protesters. There, we watched a police car set on fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Protests continued throughout the night. At one point, when I was back at my apartment, I saw police officers chase a man, throw him against a police car and render him unconscious. Luckily, photographer Michael Thoreau, who was standing next to me, caught the act on video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/protest-768x1024.jpg\")
![\"Protester](\"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/protest-2-768x1024.jpg\")