Protests took place at several sites in each of the five New York City boroughs, starting on May 28, 2020, in reaction to the murder of George Floyd. Most of the protests were peaceful, while some sites experienced protester and/or police violence, including several high-profile incidents of excessive force. Looting became a parallel issue, especially in Manhattan. As a result, and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the city was placed under curfew from June 1–7, the first curfew in the city since dual racial/war protest riots in 1943.
The protests catalyzed efforts at police reform, leading to the criminalization of chokeholds during arrests, the repeal of 50-a, which had kept police disciplinary records confidential. Several murals and memorials were created around the city in George Floyd's honor, and demonstrations against racial violence and police brutality continued as part of the larger Black Lives Matter movement in New York City.
Background
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an African-American man, was killed in an attempted arrest by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A video of the incident, depicting the officer kneeling on Floyd's neck for an extended period, attracted widespread outrage leading to local, national, and international protests and demonstrations.
In New York City, reactions to the incident drew comparisons to Eric Garner, who died after being put in a chokehold by police in Staten Island in 2014, likewise sparking a national outcry and becoming a major event in the Black Lives Matter movement. Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, participated in several of the demonstrations after the murder of George Floyd. The New York Police Department has been the subject of frequent criticism for its treatment of black citizens, including use of racial profiling, its stop-and-frisk program, high-profile cases of police violence, and the use of mass arrests and other aggressive tactics against protesters.
Timeline
Initial protests (May 28–30)
On May 28, nearly 100 protesters assembled in Union Square and marched to City Hall, blocking traffic in Lower Manhattan. While mostly peaceful, there were conflicts between protesters and police, leading to dozens of arrests as protesters threw objects and an officer was punched in the face. Peaceful protests continued the next day, May 29, around Foley Square in Manhattan. Another group came together around the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building in Harlem. As the day went on, the protests became more violent. Groups moved to the Manhattan District Attorney's office and then over the Brooklyn Bridge.
At Barclays Center, there were several clashes between protesters and law enforcement. In this and other protests, participants chanted or held signs bearing the names of other victims of police violence. In nearby Fort Greene Park, protesters were pepper sprayed and tackled by police. More than 500 protesters demonstrated around the 88th Precinct, and others were arrested attempting to break into the 79th Precinct in Bedford–Stuyvesant. Some protesters threw bricks, bottles, and other objects at the police.
Groups of police pushed and struck demonstrators with batons, and used pepper spray on others, including assemblywoman Diana Richardson and New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie. Videos posted online appeared to show demonstrators being beaten and punched by police officers. One video, depicting an officer in Brooklyn shoving a young woman who subsequently suffered a concussion. The incident led to an NYPD investigation and the officer was suspended without pay before being charged with misdemeanor assault, criminal mischief, harassment, and menacing. More than 200 people were arrested, mostly for minor charges. The New York Times described the day's events as "largely peaceful demonstrations [which] turned into jarring scenes of flaming debris, stampedes, and looted storefronts". There were also reports of protesters challenging people engaged in looting.
In the early hours of May 30, a 31-year-old lawyer named Urooj Rahman, and a 32-year-old lawyer named Colinford Mattis, were arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail at an unoccupied NYPD van. On July 1, both were charged with seven federal charges and faced long mandatory minimum sentences. In October 2021, both pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to one count apiece of possession of a destructive device. In June 2022, under revised agreements before U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn, both pleaded guilty of conspiracy to commit arson and possession of an explosive device. Both attorneys were disbarred, and each was ordered to pay $30,137 in restitution to New York City. In November 2022, Rahman was sentenced to 15 months in prison. In January 2023, Mattis was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.
Reverend Al Sharpton, Gwen Carr, and other activists held a vigil for George Floyd on Staten Island, near where Eric Garner had been killed in 2014. In Jackson Heights and Woodside in Queens, nearly 1,000 protesters marched from Diversity Plaza at Broadway and 37th Road to the NYPD 115th Precinct station on Northern Boulevard.
Around 5,000 people were estimated to have attended various protests around the city. A video circulated depicting an incident in Brooklyn where a police officer pulled a protester's mask off to pepper spray him. The officer was eventually suspended. There were no arrests among the large crowd around Barclays Center, but a few people were arrested for breaking windows nearby. At the end of the third day of unrest, a total of 345 arrests had been made, 33 police officers were injured, and 47 police vehicles had been damaged or destroyed, with several set on fire. Although several videos showed instances of police violence against protesters, no statistics were immediately made available about the number of injured participants.
Curfew and escalation (May 31 – June 4)
Several gatherings and marches took place on May 31, including large groups which moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn and Brooklyn to Manhattan. Though mostly peaceful during the day, events in Manhattan took a turn toward the violent at night. Hundreds gathered in Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan before marching in the street, remaining peaceful but blocking traffic. According to The New York Times, "As the crowd moved peacefully up Fifth Avenue, a small group of teenage protesters started knocking over trash cans, drawing rebukes from the rest of the demonstrators." The march went up to Central Park, then south to Foley Square and finally over the Brooklyn Bridge to Barclays Center. The peaceful march drew praise from Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.
In Foley Square, NYPD Lieutenant Robert Cattani knelt with a small number of other officers at the request of protesters. A few days later he apologized for kneeling, saying that he knelt in the hope that it would make the protesters less likely to use violence, but that it was a "horrible decision" that ruined his reputation and "goes against every principle and value that I stand for".
In Brooklyn, about 500 protesters gathered around a stage set up in Grand Army Plaza for a rally. That group and another 500 who had marched from Greenpoint and Williamsburg convened to form a larger demonstration around Barclays Center, where people had been congregating throughout the day. Police presence was minimal until the evening, when large groups marched in different directions, one towards Prospect Park in the southeast and one towards Downtown Brooklyn in the northwest, where some protesters threw objects at police and stores and were arrested. The group tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge but were turned back; they likewise met resistance at the Manhattan Bridge but were eventually permitted to cross.
A gathering around Union Square that night was more violent. A number of fires were set and some windows were smashed while some people participated in looting amid objections from other protesters. Looting was particularly extensive in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Gothamist described "shattered glass, bare mannequins, and flaming dumpsters [which] littered the streets of SoHo" the next morning, remarking on the "widespread looting" that "picked clean" several luxury fashion stores. Twelve police officers were injured during the clashes, and 345 protesters were arrested, including Mayor Bill de Blasio's daughter. A police union frequently critical of de Blasio publicized her personal information in violation of department policy.
On June 1, there were protests in Restoration Plaza in Bedford–Stuyvesant, as well as around Radio City Music Hall, and others blocked traffic on the FDR Drive. In Washington Square Park, Police Chief Terence Monahan kneeled with protesters and addressed the crowd to show solidarity. At nightfall, a peaceful candlelight vigil took place at Astoria Park in Queens.
Despite an 11:00 pm curfew implemented that day, and increased police presence aimed at curbing the looting from the night before, demonstrations and widespread looting continued past 11 p.m. in Manhattan and the Bronx. The New York Times highlighted the looting of Macy's Herald Square as a "symbolic blow", albeit with only moderate damage. Gothamist reported on "groups of looters ... jumping into and out of smashed storefronts with duffel bags" before the curfew and an "atmosphere ... of disbelief, as teenagers found themselves able to fill their bags without opposition". Police were forceful in breaking up gatherings after the curfew, using batons and pepper spray, but there were still reports of looting late into the night, with SoHo "largely a free-for-all after 2 a.m." In the Bronx, there was looting and trash fires. More than 700 were arrested, both police and protesters suffered injuries, including two police hit by drivers.
During the daytime on June 2, protests were less violent than in days prior, and a stricter curfew went into effect requiring people to be indoors by 8:00 pm. Thousands of protesters marched all over the city during the day. There was a peaceful gathering at the National September 11 Memorial, and another event at Foley Square. In Astoria, Queens, about 300 protesters marched from Steinway Street and 30th Avenue to the 114th Precinct on Astoria Boulevard South. In Times Square, more than a hundred doctors convened in a twist on a daily tradition which emerged in the city during the pandemic. Whereas citizens had typically leaned out their windows at 7:00 p.m. to applaud medical personnel and other essential workers, doctors instead turned up to support Black victims of police violence and call attention to systemic inequities through which the coronavirus has similarly disproportionately affected communities of color.
After 8:00 p.m., police began arresting people both for violation of curfew and for suspicion of looting. However, they arrested significantly fewer people than the previous day, with 280 placed under arrest. Some remained outside after the curfew, including a group trying to cross Manhattan Bridge, leading to a standoff with a police that resolved without incident. There were broken windows and reports of looting around Union Square, Astor Place, and Greenwich Village, sometimes thwarted by other protesters. On the night of June 2, members of the anti-crime Guardian Angels organization were beaten by looters attempting to break into a foot locker. Two members were hospitalized during the skirmish.
On the evening of June 3, more defied the curfew, and police were quicker to take action. One group peacefully marching in Brooklyn was met by a line of police in riot gear near Cadman Plaza at about 8:45 p.m. The demonstrators chanted and raised their arms for about 10 minutes while other police in riot gear surrounded them, using a technique called kettling, before moving in, striking protesters with batons, and making arrests. Another group marched from Gracie Mansion towards Central Park after curfew, leading to about 60 arrests near the park. Jumaane Williams, the New York City Public Advocate, expressed outrage at the actions police were taking against peaceful protesters. In Brooklyn, two police officers were reportedly shot and one was stabbed in the neck while guarding against looting during a protest. Their attacker was a Bosnian national who was not involved in the unrest.
Police Chief Monahan said that there would be "no more tolerance ... They have to be off the street, an 8 p.m. curfew. We gave them to 9 p.m., and there was no indication that they were going to leave these streets. We're just not going to take it."