Pawn shop looted, police vehicle burned during chaotic Las Vegas protest

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Steve Marcus

Protesters march southbound on Las Vegas Boulevard in downtown Las Vegas Saturday, May 30, 2020. Protesters were reacting to the death of George Floyd, who died while in Minneapolis police custody.

Published Sat, May 30, 2020 (8:28 p.m.)

Updated Sun, May 31, 2020 (3:52 a.m.)

Second Day of Protests for George Floyd

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What was intended to be a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest Saturday night in downtown Las Vegas quickly turned violent as police and demonstrators faced off for the second consecutive evening.

By early Sunday, a Las Vegas pawn shop was looted, a Metro Police SUV torched and store fronts spray-painted. A number of demonstrators were booked into jail.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 protesters rallied to demand justice for black Americans like George Floyd, whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police brought demonstrations nationwide. Floyd died after a Minneapolis officer pressed his knee on his neck for almost 10 minutes as Floyd pleaded he couldn’t breathe.

Three hours into the Las Vegas demonstration, after the participants had splintered into multiple groups, police escalated their response. Officers lined the street in front of Container Park, where instigators insulted them and threw water bottles in their direction in attempts to bait them into confrontations.

When police would rush to arrest someone, demonstrators threw fireworks, glass bottles and other projectiles. In response, police fired low-lethal rounds into the crowd. Tear gas followed, driving demonstrators out of the area.

A strong, multi-jurisdiction police presence took control of the streets in downtown and the north Strip by 1:45 a.m., when only a few stragglers remained. Information on the number of arrests and injuries was not immediately available, Metro Police Lt. Frank Humel said.

Earlier in the evening, he said cars had been vandalized, windows broken, and that instigators were continuing to hurl objects at officers, including Molotov cocktails, after law enforcement began to disperse the crowd. About 50 people looted a pawn shop in the 200 block of Las Vegas Boulevard South, Humel said. A Metro SUV was burned near Ninth Street and Carson Avenue.

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City of Las Vegas firefighters stand by a burned out Metro Police vehicle at Ninth Street and Carson Avenue during protest in downtown Las Vegas Saturday, May 30, 2020. Protesters were reacting to the death of George Floyd who died while in Minneapolis police custody.

Floyd’s death on Wednesday has led to an explosion of violent demonstrations across the U.S., including in Reno, where the National Guard was summoned to enforce an immediate mandatory curfew Saturday night. In the Minneapolis area, hundreds of buildings and cars have been burned by protesters.

The local protest, organized by family members of men killed by Las Vegas area police, started with a few hundreds participants at Container Park before making its way to City Hall and eventually the Fremont Street Experience. The demonstration, which started at 7 p.m., quickly expanded.

Several sign-toting protesters tried to encourage the crowd to be peaceful, telling others to follow the law so that they wouldn’t get arrested. Most followed along nonviolently, chanting of “Black Lives Matter” and “No justice; No peace," while a group of women passed out free water from their car to anyone who walked by.  

Alexander Melchor, who stood quietly near the demonstration, said he witnessed many acts of kindness that were overshadowed. “We need to show that there’s actually people donating water and being respectful to the police,” he said. “We’re keeping our 6 feet.”

He held a sign against his chest that in big letters read, “Our lives begin and end. The day we become silent about what matters.”

“Everyone as a whole needs to pay attention to this specific moment in order for us to become united again,” he said. “When you’re silent, that means you’re not with us because you have a voice. Others don’t have that voice so you need to speak out.”

Near Carson Avenue and Fourth Street, protesters confronted Metro officers who blocked the right of way. One woman implored a black officer to “be a leader” and “be different.”

“Wear that badge better than that man did when he killed (George Floyd),” she said. Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was arrested Friday on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges in Floyd’s death. Three other officers who witnessed Floyd being brutalized were fired.

Carlos Garcia stood by Las Vegas officers and raised a sign that in gold block letter read, “I pray I never fit the description.”

“Everywhere I go, everything I do, whether it’s Walmart or out and about, just because I’m brown ... I feel like they’re always labeling me,” he said. “I don’t want to be like the innocent black boy jogging and getting shot for no reason. I don’t want to wear a hoodie and match that description. I pray I never encounter that.”

A similar demonstration Friday on the Strip also escalated into violence, bringing 80 arrests and injuring 12 officers. Police say rocks were thrown at officers and property was damaged when officers tried to disperse the crowd as tensions mounted.

In Reno, officials set the curfew Saturday after protesters broke windows at City Hall and set fires. Police fired tear gas into the building, and the Reno Gazette-Journal reported a SWAT team arrived to help disperse the crowd. The fires were extinguished.

In announcing the curfew in a statement, city officials asked residents to avoid the downtown area, where a “heavy police presence” would be in force overnight. Gov. Steve Sisolak earlier on Saturday activated the Nevada National Guard to assist law enforcement in Northern Nevada.

“The Guard men and women stand ready to support state and local law enforcement in preserving public safety as well as the ability of individuals to exercise their rights to peacefully demonstrate,” read a statement released by Sisolak’s office.

In Las Vegas Saturday afternoon, Mayor Carolyn Goodman, faith leaders, an NAACP representative and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo tried to quell tensions, asking participants to demonstrate peacefully. Lombardo, in a brief statement Thursday, spoke out against the Minnesota officers involved in Floyd’s death.

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