Police in Detroit arrested dozens more people during a protest over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died last week after a white Minneapolis officer pressed his knee into his neck as he pleaded for air and eventually stopped moving.
Of the 84 people taken into custody Saturday night, 63 don’t live in the city and two don’t live in Michigan, police said Sunday.
Sixty people were arrested during demonstrations Friday night and early Saturday morning. Of that number, 37 were not from Detroit.
The Detroit protests were among dozens around the country over the death of Floyd and the treatment of blacks by police. Among the protests in Michigan was one Saturday in Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in the state.
During Detroit’s protest Saturday, a group of demonstrators walked onto a downtown-area freeway in an attempt to take it over, but that stretch of road had already been shut down to traffic, police chief James Craig told reporters.
The group of 200 to 250 people then headed into downtown and toward police headquarters, he said.
“We could tell they were getting somewhat agitated,” Craid said. “We didn’t want them to come close to our building. That’s when the protesters became violent.”
Rocks, other items and fireworks were thrown at officers, who responded with tear gas to disperse the crowd, he said.
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