Over 3,000 people conveigned in Long Beach Sunday to protest the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
Chants of “Say his name” and the response of “George Floyd” and “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.” reverberated throughout neighborhoods and the streets of Downtown Long Beach for hours.
Protestors remained peaceful and cooperative with police for a majority of the demonstration. Looting of local businesses and many of the stores in The Pike Outlets broke out around 6 p.m., the L.A. County curfew cutoff.
It was clear that the main participants in the looting were in fact not involved with the protest, as many arrived in vehicles and quickly left the scene soon after.
As it neared the Long Beach curfew of 8 p.m. , police began working to disperse the crowds.
At the intersection of Pine Avenue and Broadway Avenue, protesters were boxed in by Long Beach Police Department officers and Long Beach Fire Department trucks.
Several demonstrators were fired upon with rubber-bullets at less than a 6-foot distance. One demonstrator was hit in the wrist, causing her blood to spray onto the floor. Another was shot multiple times as he was trying to flee the scene at The Pike Outlets.
Daily 49er reporters were forced out as well but were not fired upon.
One reporter, Adolfo Guzman-Lopez with KPCC and LAist, was shot in the throat with a rubber bullet. According to his Twitter he is okay, but badly bruised.
Some protestors hurled fireworks and bottles of alcohol towards police. Many of the bottles appeared to have been Molotov cocktails but no injuries were sustained by either.
Police also deployed several flash-bang grenades, meant to disorient and scatter demonstrators, at close range. A reporter with the Daily 49er was hit with shrapnel which caused a minor abrasion on his abdomen.
While most protestors dispersed after police made advancements on the crowd, pushing them back down Broadway Avenue to First Street, a splinter group proceeded to return to the streets of downtown and continue looting and protesting.
Around 11 p.m. a men’s suit warehouse caught fire but was quickly put out by the fire department.