Five people were arrested in Detroit Saturday after a second night of protests against police brutality turned violent.
Video showed Detroit police firing tear gas and rubber bullets into a crowd of as many as 250 demonstrators. Some were seen throwing objects at the officers and one woman smashed the window of a downtown coney island.
Two officers are under investigation following a video that surfaced showing them repeatedly pushing a protester, knocking him to the ground, Metro Times reports.
There's another protest at 4 p.m. today in Detroit. Something tells me this abuse of authority is going to ratchet up tensions tonight. Anyone able to identify these officers? I'm calling police today to see what, if any, discipline is carried out. https://t.co/Erx8rvIxTP
— Motor City Muckraker (@MCmuckraker) May 31, 2020
Video showed Detroit police firing tear gas and rubber bullets into a crowd of as many as 250 demonstrators. Some were seen throwing objects at the officers and one woman smashed the window of a downtown coney island.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig said officers were targeted with bricks and fireworks. The demonstrators, who initially convened at Detroit police headquarters on 3rd Avenue, marched through downtown and at one point made it onto the I-375 freeway.
Craig said the projectiles prompted officers to respond with tear gas, which eventually dispersed many of those involved.
"When you start attacking police officers, that's when enough is enough," Craig told reporters around midnight. At least two officers suffered minor injuries in last night's demonstration.
Earlier in the evening, an officer reportedly pepper-sprayed a Free Press journalist.
Last thing I saw before I got sprayed. I was even holding up “media” badge pic.twitter.com/XGNN32dl1v
— JC Reindl (@jcreindl) May 31, 2020
The chaos unfolded following a mostly peaceful demonstration earlier in the day.
Sixty people were arrested in Detroit Friday and early Saturday morning when the city's first formal protest against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis turned violent.