New Yorkers stayed on the streets of New York City Thursday for another day of protests spurred by the death of George Floyd, including at a memorial service at the site where police used batons against demonstrators who were out past the city-imposed curfew the night before.
"You are not alone," the large crowd at Brooklyn's Cadman Plaza chanted before an emotional Terrence Floyd, wearing a mask and a T-shirt bearing his brother's likeness, thanked them for their support of his brother, killed by Minneapolis police.
"I thank God for you all showing love to my brother," he said.
Of the demonstrations that have engulfed the city and the nation, and the violence that has taken place, he said, "I'm proud of the protests but I'm not proud of the destruction. My brother wasn't about that. The Floyds are a God-fearing family." "Power to the people, all of us," he said.
The memorial was part of a day of demonstrations around the city that once again continued past the city's imposed curfew of 8 pm, even as Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio sought to deflect criticism over harsh tactics from police enforcing it.
After curfew time, thousands of protesters were out, and so were police. In some places, they watched but didn't immediately move in, while in others, they made orderly arrests without the batons and riot gear of previous nights.
Miguel Fernandes said there were "a lot more nights to go" of marching because protesters hadn't got what they wanted.
"We're still waiting for a conviction. We still haven't gotten it," Fernandes said. "All they're doing is putting in charges. The system is not doing anything to make these guys pay for what they did." As darkness fell, cries of "George Floyd" and "No justice, no peace" continued to come from protesters, even as crowds shrank.
"It's energetic," said Kenyata Taylor. "It's great to be alive, it's history right now."
Demonstrators had been in Cadman Plaza, the site of Floyd's memorial, on Wednesday night, when videos were taken of officers using batons and pepper spray on protesters who remained there after the curfew.
Both Democrats said they had not seen the widely shared videos, but later Cuomo tweeted that he was asking the state attorney general to investigate the incidents as part of her ongoing look into police tactics during the protests.
"Peaceful protest is a sacred American right," Cuomo tweeted. "No peaceful protestor deserves to be hit with a baton and no self-respecting police officer would defend that." De Blasio spoke at the memorial, with the crowd booing and heckling from the moment he arrived, shouting over him as he urged that Floyd's death not be in vain.
"We have too much to change in this city and this country," the mayor said.
Even some of the speakers took shots at the mayor, criticising his management of the NYPD and his administration's response to the coronavirus.
Earlier, de Blasio said police have used "a lot of restraint" overall and added, "but if there's anything that needs to be reviewed, it will be." NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea defended his officers and the department's overall use of force.
The governor and mayor said protesters should abide by the 8 pm curfew put in place earlier this week to deter the violence, vandalism and destruction that followed protests Sunday and Monday nights.
Buffalo also enforced an 8 pm curfew Thursday night. Video from WBFO showed a Buffalo police officer appearing to shove a man who walked up to police clearing Niagara Square. The man falls straight backward and hits his head on the pavement, with blood leaking out as officers walk past.
Two medics treated the unidentified man, the station reported. The man is hospitalized and stable, according to a tweet from Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, but his exact condition wasn't immediately known.
Buffalo police initially said in a statement that a person "was injured when he tripped & fell," WIVB-TV reported, but Capt. Jeff Rinaldo later told the TV station that the police commissioner had ordered an internal affairs investigation.
New York City's first citywide curfew in decades is set to remain in effect through at least Sunday, with the city planning to lift it at the same time it enters the first phase of reopening after more than two months of shutdowns because of the coronavirus.
Wednesday night unfolded without the vandalism and smash-and-grab sprees that forced merchants around the city to board their stores up preemptively, but police said a man ambushed officers on an anti-looting patrol in Brooklyn shortly before midnight, stabbing him in the neck.
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