Police and protesters square off outside the Richmond Police Department headquarters on Grace Street in Richmond, Va., Saturday, July 25, 2020. (Joe Mahoney/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A city dump truck was set on fire as protesters faced off with police in Virginia’s capital during a demonstration in support of protesters on the other side of the country in Portland, Oregon.
Virginia State Police and Richmond police worked to clear the crowd of a several hundred demonstrators late Saturday. City police declared an “unlawful assembly” around 11 p.m., and what appeared to be tear gas was deployed to disperse the group.
Protesters had been planning for days the demonstration that was called “Richmond Stands with Portland,” news outlets reported, in an apparent reaction to ongoing tensions between protesters and U.S. agents at the federal courthouse in Oregon’s largest city.
Weeks of nationwide unrest have struck several U.S. cities since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
Saturday’s protest in Richmond started at a park and then demonstrators marched to police headquarters, according to news outlets.
Police tweeted a photo of rocks, batteries and other items the department said were thrown at its officers during the protest. A video also showed an officer extinguishing a mattress on fire in the middle of a road.
Glass windows were also shattered at a Chipotle restaurant and a Virginia Commonwealth University dorm, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. Candice Coates, left, and Amber Shelton, second from right, wave burning sage during a drum performance by The Elegba Folklore Society, an arts organization, at the Robert E. Lee Monument on Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Richmond, Va. Burning sage is used in some traditional cultures to achieve healing. The Lee Monument in Richmond, the one-time capital of the Confederacy, has been the scene of protests since late May. (Joe Mahoney/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
Police and protesters square off outside the Richmond Police Department headquarters on Grace Street in Richmond, Va., Saturday, July 25, 2020. (Joe Mahoney/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)Police and protesters square off outside the Richmond Police Department headquarters on Grace Street in Richmond, Va., Saturday, July 25, 2020. (Joe Mahoney/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)Police stand in front of a utility vehicle that was set on fire by protesters during a demonstration outside the Richmond Police Department headquarters on Grace Street in Richmond, Va., Saturday, July 25, 2020. Police deployed flash-bangs and pepper spray to disperse the crowd after the city utility vehicle was set on fire. (Joe Mahoney/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)A protester is arrested after squaring off with police during a demonstration outside the Richmond Police Department headquarters in Richmond, Va., Saturday, July 25, 2020. Police deployed flash-bangs and pepper spray to disperse the crowd after a city utility vehicle was set on fire. (James H Wallace/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)Police and protesters square off outside the Richmond Police Department headquarters on Grace Street in Richmond, Va., Saturday, July 25, 2020. Police deployed flash-bangs and pepper spray to disperse the crowd after a city utility vehicle was set on fire. (James H Wallace/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)Protesters march outside the Richmond Police Department headquarters on Grace Street in Richmond, Va., Saturday, July 25, 2020. Police deployed flash-bangs and pepper spray to disperse the crowd after a city utility vehicle was set on fire. (James H Wallace/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)A window of the the VCU Grace and Broad Resident Center is left shattered as protesters marched through the area and squared off with police in Richmond, Va., Saturday, July 25, 2020. (James H Wallace/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
Exactly my thoughts. Every single one of these thugs are Democrat/liberal leaning. Not a single one of these dregs of society voted for President Trump. Those that were sober enough, voted for Hillary or Jill Stein. Now, they will be voting for the WHITE racist draft dodger Joe Biden or Howie Hawkins.
Think about that when you enter the voting booth.
joey
5 years ago
#1870365
it looks like were going back to burning down the house of the sixties.
Educated Archy
5 years ago
#1870385
These protesters are wild violent animals. We need to stop and ban all Floyd protests. president Trump please sign an executive order banning all protests peaceful or not in the USA. Its too violent and wrecks havoc. No this is not a violation of free speech when anarchists take over our lives.
Enough of this already. Stop now or we will lock you all up or tear gas you. if that doesn’t help we will shoot you. We mean business and we have had it
Phineas
5 years ago
#1870417
This flash bang grenade and pepper spray stuff doesn’t work once things get to a certain point. Many protesters already wear protective eye wear and know how to mitigate police riot tactics through study..
I think there needs to be a curfew but short of lethal force (which I don’t support), I don’t know where the police go from here. They’ve tried to accelerate arrests but that seems to up the violence. What they have done successfully in some places is let people gather and then eliminate access to all other parts of the city thereby hot-boxing the protesters.
Educated Archy
5 years ago
#1870482
Make no mistake , this started when we sat back idly as the thugs , anarchists and bullies smashed midtown ruthlessly while we did nothing as they terrorised us
Exactly my thoughts. Every single one of these thugs are Democrat/liberal leaning. Not a single one of these dregs of society voted for President Trump. Those that were sober enough, voted for Hillary or Jill Stein. Now, they will be voting for the WHITE racist draft dodger Joe Biden or Howie Hawkins.
Think about that when you enter the voting booth.
it looks like were going back to burning down the house of the sixties.
These protesters are wild violent animals. We need to stop and ban all Floyd protests. president Trump please sign an executive order banning all protests peaceful or not in the USA. Its too violent and wrecks havoc. No this is not a violation of free speech when anarchists take over our lives.
Enough of this already. Stop now or we will lock you all up or tear gas you. if that doesn’t help we will shoot you. We mean business and we have had it
This flash bang grenade and pepper spray stuff doesn’t work once things get to a certain point. Many protesters already wear protective eye wear and know how to mitigate police riot tactics through study..
I think there needs to be a curfew but short of lethal force (which I don’t support), I don’t know where the police go from here. They’ve tried to accelerate arrests but that seems to up the violence. What they have done successfully in some places is let people gather and then eliminate access to all other parts of the city thereby hot-boxing the protesters.
Make no mistake , this started when we sat back idly as the thugs , anarchists and bullies smashed midtown ruthlessly while we did nothing as they terrorised us