George Floyd protests live updates: Here’s what to know in Raleigh, Durham on June 3
We’re keeping up with the latest information about Triangle-area protests in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after being pinned by a Minneapolis police officer.
Protesters gather in Chapel Hill
A Black Lives Matter protest on Wednesday afternoon drew about 1,000 people to the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
A peaceful demonstration was held at McCorkle Place, the previous home to the Silent Sam Confederate statue that protesters toppled in 2018. Demonstrators also marched through the college town.
Curfew continues in Raleigh
Raleigh’s citywide curfew will remain in place for a third night. The order is in effect 8 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday.
Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin first announced a curfew on Monday. Over the weekend, peaceful protests in the city escalated, with some protesters committing acts of vandalism and police using rubber bullets and tear gas on crowds.
Council members to review police response
The Raleigh city council on Tuesday asked for a report on the way law enforcement officials responded to protests in Raleigh.
During a tense exchange, council member Patrick Buffkin said he was against the timing of the request as the police department prepared for the second night of a curfew.
“The current mood of this city will not facilitate a productive conversation,” he said, according to The News & Observer. “To be blunt, we can’t address our race-equity problems while our city is burning.”
But council member Saige Martin said an investigation would help the city protect its residents and officers.
Police kneel with protesters
State Capitol police officers took a knee on Tuesday after protesters chanted, “Kneel with us.”
The group kneeled for nine minutes — how long a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into George Floyd’s neck — in the center of the Capitol lawn.
State Capitol Police Chief Chip Hawley told The News & Observer officers took a knee to “show our deep and abiding respect for the value of all human lives.”
Raleigh police officers also kneeled later Tuesday afternoon at the request of protesters outside the city’s municipal building. Some protesters shook hands with the officers, while some others yelled insults, The News & Observer reported.
Protests remain peaceful
Police made no arrests Tuesday as demonstrations remained peaceful for the second night in a row.
Hundreds of protesters walked on Hillsborough Street to the North Carolina GOP Headquarters, while another group laid down at the corner of Hillsborough and Salisbury streets and outlined their bodies in chalk.
Most of the protesters cleared out of downtown Raleigh by the 8 p.m. citywide curfew. One group remained in the streets until about an hour later and then marched through the Historic Oakwood neighborhood.
Cooper calls for peacemakers
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper responded to criticism from President Donald Trump on Tuesday calling governors’ response to the protests “weak,” saying the U.S. needs “peacemakers.”
“I think it takes leaders of strength to be peacemakers,” Cooper said during a press briefing. ”And right now, we need leaders of strength who can hear everybody and who can be peacemakers in this state and this country, because our state and and our country need healing.”
Republican leaders in the state, including House Speaker Tim Moore, have criticized Cooper for not doing enough, pushing for him to bring in the National Guard and protect businesses from rioting.
Cooper responded Tuesday by saying his administration will “provide state support as requested.”
Wake defends use of force
A spokesman for the Wake County Sheriff’s Office told The News & Observer on Tuesday its deputies’ “strategy to use ‘less-lethal force’ was appropriate” against the owner of an LGBTQ bar during a protest Monday night.
Tim Lemuel, who owns Ruby Deluxe on South Salisbury Street, said he was outside his business handing out water and offering first aid to protesters when deputies demanded he and his friends leave.
“This is my business,” Lemuel yelled back in a video of the encounter circulating online, gesturing toward the building. “I rent this place.”
The sound of two flash shots is also heard on the video. The sheriff’s office declined to name the weapon used but said it was a tool “for riot-related crime control.”
“Once deputies urge the crowd to disperse several times and there is non-compliance, the next step is to disperse the crowd,” said Eric Curry, the spokesman.
Protest outside Durham County jail
A group gathered outside the Durham County jail on Tuesday for the second day of peaceful protests.
They chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, racist cops have got to go.” Meanwhile, drivers honked their horns and people inside the jail chanted, “Black lives matter.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 7:44 AM.
