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Standoff between protesters, Detroit police ends in arrests for violating curfew

Protesters refused to leave

DETROIT – Tuesday marked the fifth night of protests in Detroit against police brutality in the name of George Floyd.

Floyd’s death has been ruled a homicide by a medical examiner who said the Minnesota man’s heart stopped while police restrained him and compressed his neck.

A curfew for the city of Detroit went into effect at 8 p.m. and lasts until 5 a.m. One of Tuesday’s protest ended with many protesters being taken into custody.

Protesters and police were in a standoff in the area of Outer Drive East and Gratiot Avenue in Detroit on Tuesday night around 8:30 p.m.

Protesters remained peaceful and held their ground until police began making arrests around 8:45 p.m.

Detroit police Chief James Craig said a member of the field force used pepper spray, and that they likely should not have done that. Craig said the person the officer was trying to arrest was resisting.

“Those who opted to run, we let them go,” Craig said. “This was a group that we gave repeated warnings.”

Craig said the protesters were passing out numbers for attorneys.

“There was a bigger concern. They were blocking the streets and clearly there was no effort on their part to disperse,” Craig said. “Our goal is not to arrest. We don’t want to ticket anybody.”

Protesters did not instigate violence against police. They were arrested for violating curfew.

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Protesters in standoff with Detroit police on night of June 2, 2020.

READ: Detroit officials ‘proud’ of peaceful protestors downtown Monday; city curfew to remain in effect

Watch Jason Colthorp’s report below:


About the Authors
Jason Colthorp headshot

Jason is Local 4’s utility infielder. In addition to anchoring the morning newscast, he often reports on a variety of stories from the tragic, like the shootings at Michigan State, to the off-beat, like great gas station food.

Kayla Clarke headshot

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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