Seattle Declares a Riot; Man Is Killed in Texas: Protest Wrap
Armed Groups Face Off in Kentucky; Vets in Oregon: Protest Wrap
(Bloomberg) -- A man was killed during a protest in Texas as demonstrations against racial and social injustice continued across the U.S. on Saturday night.
The victim was fatally wounded at around 10 p.m. in Austin, police said. Initial reports indicated the man may have been carrying a rifle when he approached a vehicle, whose driver fired several shots, according to police, The suspect was detained.
Protesters in Oakland, California, set fire to a courthouse, damaged a police station and assaulted officers late Saturday, the Associated Press reported. In Seattle, police declared a riot Saturday following large demonstrations in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and deployed flash bangs and pepper spray to try to clear the area.
â Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) July 26, 2020
The Women’s National Basketball Association season started with 26 seconds of silence and an empty court in a symbolic move to highlight social justice. As the national anthem played, members of the New York Liberty and Seattle Storm walked off the floor, as shown in a video by ESPN.
The league is dedicating its 22-week season to Breonna Taylor, a Black emergency room technician fatally shot by police on March 13 in Kentucky, said Layshia Clarendon, a New York Liberty guard and member of the new W.N.B.A. Social Justice Council, at the game’s start.
Armed militia groups and Black Lives Matter protesters held opposing demonstrations Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky -- separated by police barriers. The Louisville Courier Journal reported that both sides were armed, as Louisville police in riot gear closed roads and imposed other measures to contain the protesters. At least two people were arrested Saturday, the paper reported. The city has become a hot spot for protests over Breonna Taylor’s death there.
Demonstrations were held in cities across the country on Saturday. In Los Angeles, protesters gathered in the city’s downtown, forcing the busy Hollywood freeway to close briefly, NBC4 reported. In Seattle, police declared a riot at the Capitol Hill neighborhood and deployed flash bangs and pepper spray to clear the crowd, the Associated Press reported.
A group of veterans joined the Portland, Oregon protesters Friday night, sending the hashtag “Wall of Vets” trending on Twitter. The escalating demonstrations there, now focused on the federal troops the Trump administration says were sent in to protect property, continued on the streets and outside the city’s federal courthouse.
The “Wall of Vets” joined the “Wall of Moms” and “Wall of Dads” formed against the intervention. Smoke from tear gas and fireworks hung over crowds in the late hours in Portland as federal agents tried to disperse the demonstrators.
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