Protests in Berkley, CA, over the Eric Garner verdict turned violent for the second night on Sunday.
Protesters threw bricks, rocks and pipes at police, who answered with tear gas and smoke canisters.
“Several splinter groups broke off and began hurling bricks, pipe, smoke grenades, and other missiles at officers,” police spokeswoman Jennifer Coats told Agence France Press.”One officer was struck with a large sandbag and treated at a local hospital for a dislocated shoulder.”
This was the fourth night of the protests in response to the grand jury decision not to indict Daniel Pantaleo for killing Eric Garner. They also came on the same weekend of the funeral of Akai Gurley, the New York man who was shot by a police officer in a Brooklyn stairwell in November.
Tensions were high as protesters insisted that Black lives matter.
“This is modern-day lynchings, over and over again,” said writer and activist Kevin Powell, who delivered Gurley’s eulogy. “Akai Gurley was simply the latest victim of this.”
The crowd consisting of around 300-400 protesters moved between the Oakland border on Telegraph Avenue and downtown Berkeley, leaving California patrol cars and a string of stores damaged, according to California police and local reports.
But not everyone wanted violence.
“Other groups of protesters shouted at the violent groups to keep peaceful and keep walking,” reported USA Today. “As the six-hour demonstration headed past the rows of college shops directly south of the campus, groups of protesters linked arms to keep out looters.”
It was the second night in a row that the mostly university student populated town was the scene of violent protests.
The protests don’t seem to be losing steam and more are popping up all over the country.
