Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of New York City and Washington, D.C. late Friday to demand action following the release of body-cam footage that showed five Memphis police officers fatally beating Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop. At least three people were arrested in New York, where police said a protester near Times Square smashed the windshield of a police vehicle. Another demonstrator was accused of striking a police officer. The protests were largely peaceful, however, and organizers said there would be more rallies held for Nichols in the near future. In D.C., the first protest of the night was led by the community-based activist organization “Harriet’s Wildest Dreams,” which quickly shut down the 13th and K street intersection downtown. “They lock us up, they shoot us down,” the group of 35 activists chanted at one point. Other group members wrote messages with chalk on the road, expressing frustrations at D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser over her support of the “police state.” At the second event, held at Lafayette Square, near the White House, the far-left activist organization “Party for Socialism and Liberation” demanded justice while blasting what they described as President Joe Biden’s lack of action. “We have an enemy that pretends to be our friend,” Sean Blackman, a speaker with the group, told the crowd of around 50 people.
Tonight, a protest turns violent just outside of Times Square in New York when on man stomps on the windscreen of a cop car, shattering it. Video shot by me. #tyrenicholspic.twitter.com/gxmJoPmBHW
