Home Local News DES MOINES PROTESTS TURN VIOLENT

DES MOINES PROTESTS TURN VIOLENT

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Unlike the peaceful protest in Sioux City, protesters clashed with police in downtown Des Moines Friday evening, vandalized businesses and damaged the doors to the federal courthouse.

The evening began with a peaceful gathering of nearly a thousand people outside the Des Moines Police Department, an event organized in response to George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis while in police custody.

As most of the crowd left, authorities say a group of people jumped on a police cruiser, bashed out the car windows and police then formed a line on the street.

There was a more than hour-long stand-off with a few hundred people who chanted and yelled George Floyd’s name. Some cursed and threw rocks and water bottles at police:

OC………….I can’t breathe.” :07 (4X)

After community leaders were unable to resolve the impasse, the crowd booed a black police officer using a bullhorn to encourage the group to leave.

Officers eventually fired tear gas and blasted a recorded command for the crowd to disperse.

By midnight, at least 10 protesters had been arrested.

Several other marches and protests are planned around the state this weekend in response to George Floyd’s death.

The white policeman seen in a video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for several minutes, while Floyd was handcuffed, was arrested Friday and charged with third degree murder and manslaughter.

Radio Iowa

Photo courtesy KMEG/CBS News

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