LIVE BLOG - Unrest in America

Latest updates - Mayor proposes $1B cut in funding to NYPD, and Mississippi lawmakers vote to remove Confederate emblem from flag.

News 12 Staff

Jun 1, 2020, 12:57 AM

Updated 1,662 days ago

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LIVE BLOG - Unrest in America
 
Updates on the protests and changes that have followed George Floyd's death in Minneapolis.
What you need to know right now:
  • Mayor proposes $1B cut in funding to NYPD
  • Mississippi lawmakers vote to remove Confederate emblem from flag
  • Shooting at Breonna Taylor rally leaves 1 dead in Louisville
  • 3 indicted in Ahmaud Arbery's death
  • House passes police reform
  • Elijah McClain case reopened
June 29, 4 p.m. The police budget in New York City would be slashed by $1 billion under a proposal announced Monday by Mayor Bill de Blasio. With a “defund the police” sit-in protest continuing outside City Hall, de Blasio said the New York Police Department had found ways to find the cuts from its current $6 billion budget that would open up more funding for youth and other community programs.
June 28, 8:29 p.m. Mississippi legislators voted to raucous cheers and applause to remove a Confederate battle emblem from their state flag. Mississippi’s House and Senate took historic votes Sunday to retire the flag adopted in 1894. It's the last state flag that included a Confederate symbol that many people condemn as racist. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has said he will sign the bill.
June 28, 10 a.m.  Authorities were investigating a fatal shooting Saturday night at a park in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, where demonstrators had gathered to protest the death of Breonna Taylor. Video posted on social media appeared to show a man opening fire into the park as people scrambled for cover. The footage later showed at least one person bleeding profusely on the ground.
June 25, 10 p.m. The House approved a far-reaching police overhaul from Democrats, a vote heavy with emotion and symbolism as a divided Congress struggles to address the global outcry over the deaths of George Floyd  and other Black Americans.
June 25, 6 p.m. Colorado's governor ordered prosecutors to reopen the investigation into the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man put into a chokehold by police who stopped him on the street in suburban Denver last year because he was “being suspicious.”
June 24, 4 p.m. A prosecutor has announced that three men have been indicted on murder charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Prosecutor Joyette Holmes said Wednesday that a Glynn County grand jury has indicted Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. on malice and felony murder charges in Arbery’s death.
June 23, 8:38 p.m. Louisville officials say Brett Hankison, one of the officers involved in Breonna Taylor's death, has been fired.
June 23, 6:45 p.m. The noose found hanging in Bubba Wallace's garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway had been there since at least last October, federal authorities said in announcing there will be no charges filed in the incident that rocked NASCAR and its only fulltime Black driver. 
June 23, 5 p.m. Mourner paid their final respects to Rayshard Brooks today at the Atlanta church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. used to preach.
June 22, 12:25 p.m.  Federal authorities on Monday confirmed they are investigating the discovery of a noose found in the Talladega Superspeedway garage stall of Bubba Wallace, NASCAR's only Black full-time driver who successfully pushed the stock car series to ban the Confederate flag at its venues earlier this month.
June 21, 8 p.m. A police officer who was involved in an apparent chokehold incident in Queens has been suspended without pay, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea. The incident happened Sunday at Far Rockaway Beach. Video appeared to show the officer using a chokehold on a Black man. "Accountability in policing is essential. After a swift investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau, a police officer involved in a disturbing apparent chokehold incident in Queens has been suspended without pay," Shea said in a statement released Sunday evening.
June 20, 4:40 p.m. Minnesota legislative leaders traded barbs Saturday after a special session collapsed Saturday with no deal on revamping policing following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. GOP Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka repeatedly had said that Friday was his deadline for adjournment. Gazelka blamed “behind the scenes arm-twisting” from Democratic Gov. Tim Walz for ending “any hope of working together right now.” Walz says his administration is planning its next steps, and for Senate Republicans “to take your ball and go home in the middle of this” is “an embarrassment for Minnesota.”
June 20, 3 p.m. Investigators say they have issued an arrest warrant for a woman in the burning of a Wendy’s restaurant in Atlanta during protests over the police shooting of Rayshard Brooks. Atlanta Fire and Rescue said Saturday on Twitter that Natalie White is a suspect in the arson. The post included surveillance pictures of White in a store, but no additional identifying information.
June 19, 3 p.m. Democratic state legislators in Connecticut have unveiled a long list of police reform they plan to push for. The ambitious agenda includes a ban on police use of chokeholds - like the one used on George Floyd in Minneapolis - and a ban on the kind of no-knock warrant - like the one used in the police response that killed Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.
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June 19, 12:25 p.m. Louisville's mayor says one of three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor will be fired. Mayor Greg Fisher said Friday that interim Louisville police Chief Robert Schroeder has started termination proceedings for Officer Brett Hankison. Two other officers remain on administrative reassignment while the shooting is investigated. 
June 18, 9 p.m. Kentucky's attorney general has asked for patience as his office investigates the shooting death of a black woman by Louisville police. Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Thursday he recognizes the urgency to “find the truth." Cameron declined to publicly set a timetable for the completion of the investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor. 
June 17, 3:41 p.m. The Atlanta officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks in the back after the fleeing man pointed a stun gun in his direction will be charged, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard made the announcement about officer Garrett Rolfe during a news conference. Rolfe had already been fired after he fatally shot Brooks, 27, on Friday night. A second officer, Devin Brosnan, stood on a wounded Brooks’ shoulder as he struggled for his life, Howard said. Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath.
June 17, 2:33 p.m. A group behind the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement has established a more than $12 million fund to aid organizations fighting institutional racism. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation said it is setting aside $6 million from donations to support black-led organizing groups.
June 17, 12:20 p.m. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed an order making Juneteenth a paid holiday for New York state employees.
June 17, 11:44 a.m. Quaker Oats announced it is retiring the 131-year-old Aunt Jemima brand, saying the company recognizes the character's origins are “based on a racial stereotype.” Just hours later, the owner of the Uncle Ben’s brand of rice said the brand will “evolve” in response to concerns about racial stereotyping.
June 16, 3:01 p.m. Gov. Andrew Cuomo  signed legislation requiring all New York State Police officers to wear body cameras while on patrol and creating the Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigative Office.
June 16, 2:30 p.m. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on policing Tuesday that would encourage better police practices and establish a database to keep track of officers with a history of excessive use-of-force complaints.
June 16, 12:20 p.m. A new policy will require the NYPD to release all body camera footage of shootings and other use-of-force incidents that result in injury or death, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.
June 15, 5 p.m. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea says the department is transitioning its anti-crime plainclothes officers to other units. Shea said during a news briefing that the NYPD would transition plainclothes anti-crime units to a variety of roles, including the detective bureau and neighborhood policing assignments.
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June 15, 1 p.m. Gov. Cuomo has signed additional police reform legislation. Those include a law stating that an officer must report a weapon discharge within 6 hours; a law requiring police departments and courts to track arrest data, including race/ethnicity; and law that requires police to provide for the mental or medical health to anyone under arrest or in custody if needed.
June 14, 3 p.m. Gov. Cuomo says he has signed the 'New Yorker's Right to Monitor Act,' affirming the right of an individual to record law enforcement activity and to maintain custody of that recording and any instruments used to make the recording. "Transparency is critical to renewing the community's trust and confidence in our policing systems," Cuomo said in a statement. "Stopping police abuse vindicates the overwhelming majority - 99.9 percent - of police who are there to do the right thing, and by making clear that all New Yorkers have the right to record and keep recordings of police activity we can help restore trust in the police-community relationship."
 
June 14, 10 a.m.  Atlanta police said Sunday the department fired one officer and placed another on administrative duty for the fatal shooting of a black man who resisted arrest after failing a field sobriety test - a death that rekindled fiery protests in the city and also caused the police chief to resign. Body camera footage released early Sunday by Atlanta police showed 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks appearing good-humored and largely cooperative with the two white officers after being found sleeping alone in a car blocking a Wendy's drive-thru lane.
June 13, 12 p.m. Officials say three people were arrested during a protest on Long Island Friday night for disorderly conduct. Police say they tried to take their demonstration into streets in East Meadow where traffic was going by and officers blocked them.
June 12, 1:05 p.m. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed a series of police reforms passed by the New York Legislature and says he will issue an executive order requiring the reinvention of local police departments. The reforms include a repeal of the controversial 50-A statute
June 11, 4:57 p.m. Following days of violent confrontations with protesters, police in Seattle have largely withdrawn from a neighborhood where protesters created a festival-like scene that has President Donald Trump fuming. Trump taunted Gov. Jay Inslee and Mayor Jenny Durkan about the situation on Twitter and said the city had been taken over by “anarchists." “Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will,” Trump tweeted.
June 11, 3:47 p.m. The nation's top military officer says it was a mistake for him to cross Lafayette Square with President Donald Trump last week after the park was forcefully cleared of protesters. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says his presence “created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.” He called it “a mistake” that he has learned from
June 10, 4:40 p.m. Philonise Floyd challenged Congress on Wednesday to "stop the pain" as lawmakers consider a sweeping law enforcement overhaul, so his brother George won't be just "another name" on a growing list of black Americans killed during interactions with police. Floyd's appearance before a House hearing came a day after funeral services for George Floyd.
June 9, 7:50 p.m. The New York Legislature has voted to repeal Section 50-A, the controversial measure that kept police misconduct files hidden from the public.
June 9, 6 p.m. Gov. Ned Lamont sent the leaders of the Connecticut General Assembly to notify them he will call a special session that will include action on "police transparency and accountability."
June 9, 5:12 p.m. George Floyd was lovingly remembered as “Big Floyd” - a father and brother, athlete and mentor, and now a force for change - at his funeral. Hundreds of mourners wearing masks against the coronavirus packed a Houston church for the service.
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June 9, 11:41 a.m. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says New York will pass major criminal justice reform this week.
June 9, 11 a.m. An NYPD officer who was seen on video shoving a protester in Brooklyn turned himself in and has been charged with assault. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced  that the officer has been charged in a criminal complaint with assault, criminal mischief, harassment and menacing. The officer, 28-year-old Vincent D'Andraia with the 73rd Precinct, was caught on camera shoving a protester to the ground during a demonstration in Brownsville on May 29. The PBA responded to the arrest in a news conference.
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June 8, 7 p.m. Connecticut officials pledged Monday to enact additional police reforms in light of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. State lawmakers said Monday they plan to propose new legislation within the next month or so. And members of the Connecticut Police Transparency and Accountability Task Force, created by legislation passed last year, said they expect to submit additional recommended reforms by the end of the year or possibly sooner.
June 8, 6:05 p.m. The New York state Assembly and Senate have passed the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act. The bill "establishes the crime of aggravated strangulation for police officers or peace officers where such officer commits the crime of criminal obstruction or breathing or blood circulation." Gov. Cuomo said earlier in the day that he would sign it.
 

June 8, 4:30 p.m. Sen. Cory Booker has introduced a new bill that would make sweeping changes designed to stop police abuse. The legislation would make sweeping changes to policing in the United States. It would ban chokeholds, create a national misconduct registry for police officers, make lynching a federal crime and set new standards for police training.
June 8, 2:45 p.m. Hundreds of mourners lined up outside a church in George Floyd’s native Houston Monday for a final public viewing. Mourners stood at 6 feet distance, pausing briefly to view his casket. Floyd’s funeral was set to be held Tuesday, followed by burial at the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery in suburban Pearland, where he will be laid to rest next to his mother.
June 8, 9:15 a.m. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says anti-racism demonstrations have been “subverted by thuggery” after protesters tore down a statue of a slave trader in the city of Bristol and scrawled graffiti on a statue of Winston Churchill in London. London’s Metropolitan police say a dozen people were arrested and eight officers injured after demonstrators clashed Sunday with police in central London. Johnson says while people have a right to peacefully protest, they have no right to attack the police. He says “these demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery - and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve.’’
June 7, 11:15 a.m. At a news conference Sunday morning, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans to shift funding from the NYPD to youth and social services and to hire community ambassadors to work with the NYPD. He also said the city would remove street vendor enforcement from the NYPD's purview in an effort to de-escalate tensions.
June 7, 7:15 a.m. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he's lifting the city's curfew, effective immediately. It comes after peaceful protests on Saturday, and ahead of the city's Phase 1 coronavirus reopening that's on track to begin on Monday.
June 7, 7 a.m. - Eleven protesters were arrested, including a juvenile, and two Nassau police officers were injured during a protest Saturday in Merrick, officials say.
June 6, 6:10 p.m. Thousands of peaceful demonstrators poured into the streets of Washington,. D.C. Saturday afternoon to protest police brutality and racial inequality. The protesters gathered at the Capitol, on the National Mall and in many residential neighborhoods. The Associated Press reported that many of the loosely organized groups were moving toward the White House, where President Donald Trump was spending the day with no public events scheduled.
June 6, 5:30 p.m. Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday in the small town of Raeford, North Carolina, where a memorial service and public viewing for George Floyd was held Saturday.
June 6, 3 p.m. Prosecutors say two Buffalo police officers have been charged with assault after a video showed them shoving a 75-year-old protester. Both pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault Saturday. The two officers had been suspended without pay Friday after a TV crew captured the confrontation the night before near the end of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.
June 6, 6:59 a.m. The NYPD commissioner says two officers have been suspended with pay for "disturbing" incidents during protests last week that were caught on video. One video appeared to show the officer pushing a woman to the ground, and other other captured an officer pulling down the mask of a protester and spraying him in the face. "These incidents...are disturbing and run counter to the principles of NYPD training, as well as our mission of public safety. The actions by these officers stand apart from the restrained work of the thousands of other officers who have worked tirelessly to protect those who are peacefully protesting and keep all New Yorkers safe," Commissioner Dermot Shea said in a statement.
 
June 5, 9 p.m. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea tweeted out a photo of items seized from protesters in the Bronx Thursday night -- including lighter fuel, a hammer and more.
June 5, 1:13 p.m. Minneapolis has agreed to ban all chokeholds by police & require bystanding officers to stop them in wake of Floyd death.
June 5, 1:01 p.m. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he wants New York to make police reforms and is urging other states to follow. He says the “Say Their Name” police reform agenda includes a ban on chokeholds and makes false race-based 911 calls a hate crime. He is urging the Legislature to pass the reforms next week in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which has sparked days of protests nationwide.
 
June 4, 10:40 p.m.: Protesters defied the 8 p.m. curfew Thursday night and continued marching in Downtown Brooklyn. They started at the Barclays Center, walked through Cobble Hill, Cadman Plaza and other parts of Downtown Brooklyn. News 12 captured video of an altercation between police and individuals before things calmed down.
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June 3, 8 p.m. Three Nevada men with ties to a loose movement of right-wing extremists advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government have been arrested on terror charges in what authorities say was a conspiracy to spark violence during recent protests in Las Vegas
June 3, 5:22 p.m. Former President Barack Obama delivered public remarks on the George Floyd case.
June 3, 5:15 p.m. Following a meeting at the White House, Defense Secretary Mark Esper has reversed course and will keep troops in Washington, D.C.
 June 3, 5:05 p.m. The family of George Floyd was joined by Al Sharpton to respond to the new charges in Floyd's death.
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June 3, 4:15 p.m. - Prosecutors have announced they have upgraded charges against Derek Chauvin and charged three other police officers in George Floyd's death. 
June 3, 3:07 p.m. The Floyd family attorney says charges against Derek Chauvin, seen kneeling on George Floyd's neck before his death, have been upgraded to felony second-degree murder.  Three other officers have also been charged, according to the attorney.
June 3, 3:05 p.m. Commissioner Dermot Shea condemned the killing of George Floyd and said the NYPD stands with the Floyd family.
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June 3, 12:45 p.m. Family members of George Floyd visited the site of his death. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said he expects charges against all four officers involved in Floyd's death.
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June 3, 12:38 p.m. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says New York City was "much better" last night. He says the results were "much, much different than the night before."
June 3, 7:22 a.m. The NYPD made hundreds of arrests for looting and other violence overnight during the second night of New York City's curfew.
 
June 2, 4:37 p.m. - Gov. Ned Lamont says that the last thing he wants to do is bring in the National Guard, as protests across the state have been peaceful.
June 2, 3:09 p.m. The state of Minnesota filed civil rights charge against the Minneapolis Police Department in George Floyd’s death.
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A News 12 microphone picked up Rep. Eliot Engel saying "if I didn't have a primary, I wouldn't care" as he asked Diaz if he could speak at the event. Engel later issued a statement to News 12 that said, "“In the context of running for re-election, I thought it was important for people to know where I stand, that's why I asked to speak. Of course I care deeply about what's happening in this country, that's what I wanted to convey. I love the Bronx, grew up in the Bronx and lived here all my life. I would not have tried to impose on the Borough President if I didn't think it was important.”
 
June 2, 1:06 p.m. - Video shows that a man fatally shot while police and National Guard soldiers were enforcing a curfew in Louisville fired a gun as officers approached his business during protests, the city’s acting police chief said. The video showing David McAtee opening fire was obtained from security cameras at McAtee’s business and an adjoining business, acting police Chief Robert Schroeder said. It shows McAtee shooting while officers were trying to clear protesters from a parking lot, he said.
June 2, 12:33 p.m. Six Atlanta police officers have been charged after a video showed authorities pulling two young people from a car during protests over the death of George Floyd.
June 2, 12:31 p.m. More than $3 million has been raised to help rebuild south Minneapolis businesses damaged or destroyed in the sometimes violent protests that followed George Floyd’s death.
June 2, 12:15 p.m. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he's disappointed and outraged at the looting in New York City. He also said police are supposed to protect communities and "did not do that in New York City last night." He added that he offered National Guard assistance to Mayor Bill de Blasio to help stop looting but that the mayor refused.
June 2, 11:59 a.m. Joe Biden delivered a speech at Philadelphia's City Hall, addressing the civil unrest across America following the death of George Floyd. Biden criticized President Donald Trump a day after police drove back peaceful protesters near the White House so Trump could pose with a Bible before a damaged church. Biden said Trump's “narcissism has become more important than the nation that he leads.”
June 2, 11:30 a.m. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that New York City’s curfew will be extended through the week. He says the 8 p.m. to 5 p.m. curfew will be in effect through June 7.
June 2, 9:30 a.m. Looters damaged several stores near Fordham Road Monday night into Tuesday morning.
June 2, 8:30 a.m. Gov. Phil Murphy "does not plan on asking President Trump to send the U.S. military to New Jersey," according to a statement from the governor's office.
June 2, 8:28 a.m. A group of men smashed their way into two stores on McLean Avenue in Yonkers overnight.
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June 2, 4:30 a.m. An officer has been shot in Las Vegas and authorities are responding to another shooting as people protest the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, authorities said. The officer was shot in the area of the Las Vegas Strip and an officer was involved in a shooting in the downtown area, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported early Tuesday.
June 1, 10:55 p.m. A vehicle plowed through a group of law enforcement officers at a George Floyd demonstration Monday night in Buffalo, injuring at least two. Video from the scene shows the vehicle accelerating through an intersection shortly after officers apparently tackle a protester on the street and handcuff him. 
June 1, 10 p.m. Mayor de Blasio has ordered a NYC curfew for Tuesday night from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.  
June 1, 7:00 p.m. In a speech from the Rose Garden, President Trump threatened to deploy the U.S. military if states cannot stop violence protests. 
June 1, 5:15 p.m. Afternoon protests on Long Island in Commack, Port Jefferson Station and West Islip drew sizable crowds, with police labeling them as nothing but peaceful, and a good dialogue between protesters and officers.
June 1, 4:40 p.m. Federal, state and city lawmakers came together Monday to demand that the NYPD fire one of its officers after a video showing a protester pushed to the ground in Brooklyn went viral. The push has been seen by millions. During demonstrations Friday night in Brooklyn, an officer from the 73rd Precinct was caught on camera shoving a protester to the ground in Brownsville. 
June 1, 4:15 p.m. George Floyd’s brother is pleading for peace in the streets of Minneapolis, saying violence is “not going to bring my brother back at all," and "if I'm not out here messing up my community, then what are y'all doing?"
 June 1, 3:45 p.m. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says a curfew will be rolled out in New York City amid a wave of protests and unrest; additional police officers will be on the streets. He said in a radio interview that the curfew would be from 11 p.m. Monday through 5 a.m Tuesday.
-June 1, 3:20 p.m. An autopsy commissioned for George Floyd’s family found that he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression when a Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes and ignored his cries of distress, the family’s attorneys said Monday. The autopsy by a doctor who also examined Eric Garner’s body found the compression cut off blood to Floyd’s brain, and weight on his back made it hard to breathe.
-June 1, 2:31 p.m. - Hundreds of protesters marched the streets of Westport, Connecticut, Monday donning black-colored clothing as they shouted "black lives matter."
-June 1, 12:30 p.m. - Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that he stands with the protesters who have been demonstrating against the death of George Floyd, but warned that mass rallies could exacerbate the spread of COVID-19.
-June 1, 12:15 p.m. - President Donald Trump derided the nation’s governors as “weak” and demanded tougher crackdowns on protesters in the aftermath of another night of violent protests in dozens of American cities.

-June 1, 11:50 a.m. - Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the various protests in New York City over the weekend and says there were many powerful moments but also incidents and behavior that will not be tolerated. The mayor said the weekend protests were peaceful for the most part, but that most of the violent or illegal incident were in the late night hours.
 -June 1, 8:30 a.m. - Police officers and National Guard soldiers enforcing a curfew in Louisville killed a man early Monday when they returned fire after someone in a large group fired at them first, the city's police chief said. 
-May 31, 11:17 p.m. - Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small has enacted a 7 p.m. curfew that will be in effect from June 1 to June 8.  Small says the measure will be enforced 'big time.'  The mayor also expressed is frustrations and embarrassment over the actions of some people in the city. 
-May 31, 10:39 p.m. - Sources tell News 12 that NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio's daughter, Chiara, was arrested last night at a protest in Manhattan. 
-May 31, 10:15 p.m. - Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora says at least two police cars were set on fire and looting took place on the streets amid protests in the city Sunday over George Floyd's death.
-May 31, 8:54 p.m. - Protest activity has shut down all lanes on the Manhattan Bridge in both directions.
-May 31, 7:30 p.m. - Demonstrators have returned to the Barclays Center, two nights after violent protests began in New York City. 
 
May 30: News 12 reporter Darius Radzius was attacked while he was reporting about the looting of a liquor store.