Protesters chant 'no justice, no peace' on steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall
Raw video of peaceful demonstration in Brooklyn following death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
Brooklyn protesters defended a Target store from looting as riots grew more violent on Saturday.
Protesters gathered in Brooklyn on Saturday, just as they did in Harlem, Chicago, Los Angeles and 30 other cities across the country, to demand justice for George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody on May 25.
Protesters and police clashed, turning the peaceful protest into a violent riot that saw police cars burned and stores looted.
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However, footage of protest organizers defending a Target store spread across social media, with many believing it would “not be reported” for not fitting with the riot narrative.
In the footage, originally posted by Forbes reporter Andrew Solender, a group of protesters stood in front of the store entrance, telling others to “back up” and “go away.”
Solender also interviewed one of the protesters in the video, with both having to run while they spoke to stay ahead of the pursuing force of police officers.
The protester alleges that it was not actually protesters, but bad actors – in this case, he accuses the police themselves – who attempted to instigate the trouble.
“The individuals who wanted to break in entry to the Target in the first place were undercover detectives hired by the NYPD – they made it seem like they were part of the group with everyone else, but I was there, front line,” the unnamed protester claimed.
“We are simply doing a peaceful protest. They’re trying to set us up,” he added. “That is not the narrative we are painting for our generation.”
Over the previous week, protests regularly turned violent, with many saying that looting and rioting is diminishing the message that protesters are trying to send. Leaders across the country, both elected and otherwise, have publicly condemned the rioting, saying that such violence is no longer about the death of Floyd.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned the riots, saying that they no longer have anything to do with George Floyd’s death.
"This is no longer about protesting," Frey said. "This is about violence and we need to make sure that it stops."
Both leaders have implied that organized outsiders, including but not limited to anarchists, white supremacists, and gangs from other states, were behind the destruction and chaos in Minneapolis.
President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr have stated that government intelligence, instead, points to Antifa organizations who are behind the escalation.
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Trump announced on Sunday that the U.S. will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization in an effort to help crackdown on the increasing violence.
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