Protests in Los Angeles turned violent Friday evening as aerial footage showed a massive crowd fighting with police officers.
CNN host Chris Cuomo described the violent situation in detail as video showed hundreds of protesters surrounding a group of police who attempted to escape the angry mob.
“You see the officers are getting more aggressive, they’re pushing people back … they’re using a nightstick,” Cuomo said. “Now, this is a recurring thing. You see a protester come up, somebody just threw something over the top, it was a sandbag from one of the other barrier areas, and a protester will come up, in this case, the white guy with a sign, and tell people, ‘Stop, stop, stop, don’t do anything to the police.’ This happens in cycles in these situations.”
Protesters spilled into the streets of several major U.S. cities on the fourth day of demonstrations after 47-year-old George Floyd died while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department on Monday afternoon.
In Atlanta, hundreds of frustrated residents stood off with police on Friday night at the CNN headquarters while buildings were set ablaze in Minneapolis for a second straight night.
“You see the officer,” Cuomo described. “He had his hands on somebody, that white guy runs up, gets him in a choke, pulls him off, somebody pulls him off, he goes away, the officer is still on the back of this guy that he obviously wants to detain. Other people are coming out and attacking the officer. You’re gonna see it. You see the kicks, you see them coming from behind. He still has his hands on the guy, in the hoodie, that person pulls out of traffic … they don’t want to be part of this melee.”
