Protesters on Wednesday shut down traffic on the 101 Freeway near Union Station as demonstrators took to downtown Los Angeles over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, according to local reports.
Some of the protesters could be seen on video hitting the windows and hood of a CHP cruiser as it attempted to slowly drive away from the crowd. As the cruiser accelerated, a few protesters could be seen on the hood of the vehicle.
protesters confronting CHP cruisers on the 101 freeway in Downtown Los Angeles. The protester who falls off the moving vehicle was taken by ambulance and later seen with head bandages, standing and talking to authorities. #GeorgeFloyd #losangeles #BlackLivesMatters pic.twitter.com/pksGL0mu8G
— MarlaTellez (@MarlaTellez) May 28, 2020
#BREAKING – #LosAngeles #BlackLivesMatter protest turns violent as hundreds occupy the 101 freeway and demonstrators attack two CHP patrol cars. One protester was injured while attempting to ride on the hood of the officer’s vehicle. #air7hd @abc7 #abc7eyewitness #georgefloyd pic.twitter.com/FtDa0kozCd
— Chris Cristi (@abc7chriscristi) May 28, 2020
One protester appeared to have been left injured in the incident, according to NBC Los Angeles.
“The L.A. chapter of Black Lives Matter shared news of the protest at 211 W. Temple St, the office of L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lahey. It is suspected that other groups may have also responded to the demonstration, which occupied part of the 101 Freeway,” reports CBS Los Angeles.
Protesters are said to have dispersed from the freeway around 6:25 P.M. local time, and demonstrators continued there way through downtown Los Angeles.
The mayor of Minneapolis called Wednesday for criminal charges against the white police officer seen on video kneeling against the neck of a handcuffed Floyd, the black man who complained that he could not breathe and died in police custody.
Based on the video, Mayor Jacob Frey said officer Derek Chauvin should be charged in the death of George Floyd. The footage recorded by a bystander shows Chauvin with his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd gasps for breath on the ground with his face against the pavement. The officer does not move for at least eight minutes, even after Floyd stops speaking and moving.
“I’ve wrestled with, more than anything else over the last 36 hours, one fundamental question: Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail?” said Frey, who is white.
He later added: “I saw no threat. I saw nothing that would signal that this kind of force was necessary.”
The day after Floyd died, Chauvin and three other officers were fired — an act that did not stem the flood of anger that followed the widely seen video shot on Memorial Day outside a convenience store.
Protesters marched more than two miles Tuesday to the police precinct in that part of the city, with some damaging property and skirmishing with officers in riot gear who fired tear gas. Conflict erupted again Wednesday at the same precinct, with some protesters throwing rocks and bottles at police. News helicopter video appeared to show looting of nearby stores, including a Target, a Cub Foods, and an auto parts store, with no evident police intervention.
The AP contributed to this report.
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