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Protest In Downtown Phoenix Ends Peacefully With No Arrests

Randy Hoeft/The Yuma Sun via AP

The fifth night of protests in downtown Phoenix over police brutality ended peacefully Monday with demonstrators leaving shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew took effect.

 

Phoenix police said they made no arrests related to the protest on Monday, in sharp contrast to the more than 200 people arrested Sunday.

The Arizona Republic reported the crowd, which was smaller than at the earlier protests, dispersed after three officers followed a request from protesters and took a knee, leading to cheers.

Gov. Doug Ducey ordered the curfew after clashes over the weekend between police and civilians and looting at an upscale mall in Scottsdale and surrounding businesses.

Protests have erupted in U.S. cities and Europe in the days after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck until he stopped breathing.

Phoenix’s first protest unfolded after a Thursday vigil for Dion Johnson, a 28-year-old black man who was fatally shot during an encounter with a state trooper along a city freeway.

Downtown Phoenix then had three more consecutive nights of protests with damage to 18 buildings that Police Chief Jeri Williams said will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair.

In Tucson, protesters damaged some downtown buildings and vandalized the city’s police station during two nights of protests that led to a handful of arrests.

Scottsdale police reported millions of dollars in theft and property damage following Saturday night looting at the upscale Fashion Square mall and surrounding businesses.

Police did not intervene for several hours, avoiding violent confrontations between authorities and looters. Scottsdale officials said police were outnumbered and prioritized protecting people.

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