LITTLE ROCK (AP) – Demonstrations over the death of George Floyd continued in Little Rock on Tuesday, the day after Arkansas authorities used tear gas for the third night in a row to break up protests outside the state Capitol.A group of demonstrators chanting and holding signs blocked a busy intersection downtown, shortly before the city’s mayor and police chief planned to a hold a news conference on recent protests.
Arkansas State Police fired tear gas to break up Monday night’s protest, which had grown to several hundred people in downtown Little Rock and went beyond a 10 p.m. curfew the city’s mayor implemented because of the demonstrations and the coronavirus outbreak..
It marked the third night of protests at the Capitol over Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. Floyd died May 25 after an officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said state police arrested five people at Monday’s protest. He said he has not requested any military assistance from the federal government for the demonstrations and didn’t expect to do so. The governor over the weekend mobilized the National Guard to assist local and state police.
“I do not see that in our future,” Hutchinson told reporters. “The role of the National Guard is important, under my control as commander-in-chief of the state military. Their support of the State Police and local law enforcement is what I believe is sufficient in the right direction for this time of protest in the United States.”
Mayor Frank Scott marched with demonstrators Monday night and pleaded for calm. But the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported some protesters became unruly. Buildings along Capitol Avenue, including a bank, were damaged and crews put out a fire at the Arkansas Pharmacists Association building.
The Democrat-Gazette reported one of its reporters was assaulted and taken to the hospital late Monday night.
The damage followed mostly peaceful demonstrations throughout the day that included Little Rock’s police chief meeting with protesters outside City Hall.
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