Clashes With Police Continue In Washington, Tense Standoff On Manhattan Bridge Diffused During Largely Peaceful Night Of Protests

After four straight nights of anarchy and unrest across the US, demonstrations in dozens of cities across the US took on a distinctly more peaceful tone, as several tense situations were successfully de-escalated, while demonstrations and in some cases violent protests sprang up in Europe and around the world.

After closing all of Manhattan below 96th street to cars, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio called for an end to “coordinated criminal activity” and looting. Fortunately, the protests on Tuesday night were much less violent and chaotic. A clash between protesters and police was avoided on the Manhattan Bridge, where police allowed them to turn around and walk back to Manhattan. Some store owners lined the streets and “cheered on the demonstrators”, CNN reported. We imagine many more stood outside their boarded up stores with makeshift weapons, ready to take matters into their own hands after the NYPD refused to intervene to stop looters in parts of the city last night.

Police in riot gear block protesters on New York’s Manhattan Bridge, make arrests.

pic.twitter.com/rhxYMeMb6s

— DTCNEWS (@DTC_NEWS_2) June 3, 2020

Protesters blockaded by police on New York’s Manhattan Bridge chant slogans, during a demonstration against the death of George Floyd. https://t.co/mMmiMLQm23 pic.twitter.com/23TBlLkG6V

— ABC News (@ABC) June 3, 2020

At one point, Spider-Man made an appearance.

A huge development at the Manhattan Bridge protest right now pic.twitter.com/rCH0GLDgEe

— Anya Volz (@AnyaVolz) June 3, 2020

Looting broke out in downtown Brooklyn at Flatbush Avenue and Pacific Street, an area with a lot of big box stores and the Atlantic Terminal mall near the Barclays Center. The department also said there was a shooting in Crown Heights, where a cop shot “somebody with a firearm”.

In Philadelphia on Tuesday, CNN noted that protests culminated in a nine-minute “moment” of silence, while city officials opted to move a controversial statue of a former mayor that had become a locus for vandalism.

Overnight, Philadelphia officials removed the statue of Frank Rizzo, the ex police chief and mayor who once told people to “Vote White” https://t.co/yXWcusWX38

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) June 3, 2020

After Virginia recalled national guardsmen, clashes continued between police and rioters and demonstrators in Washington DC. Cops pepper-sprayed protesters and again shot them with rubber bullets during a protest in Lafayette Square in Washington DC. Video showed a TV camera operator being sprayed at a fence erected at the edge of the park just north of the White House.

Perhaps the most interesting development on Tuesday night were the demonstrations and, in a few instances, violent clashes that broke out in Paris and other European cities.

The protests against the death of #GeorgeFloyd and police brutality continued overnight in major cities across the U.S. and Europe pic.twitter.com/nuRWMtVd0s

— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) June 2, 2020

Protests even broke out in Sub-Saharan Africa, with protests staged in Kenya and Nigeria.

Pope Francis weighed in for the first time, saying “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye” to racism.

“I have witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest in your nation in these past days, following the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd…We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday that the Minnesota Department of Human Rights is launching a sweeping civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department which will look into practices of systemic racism. In a statement to the press, he said the inquiry will try to determine whether police engaged in “systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color and ensure any such practices are stopped.”

Derek Chauvin, the officer who placed his knee on Floyd’s neck, is expected to make his first appearance in court on charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on June 8. Floyd’s funeral is set for June 9.