Durham protesters march downtown to support Jacob Blake; vandalism reported
This story was updated at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020.
Hundreds of protesters marched through downtown Durham on Saturday night demanding an end to police brutality.
The protesters, most wearing black, gathered next to the Durham County jail at the corner of Mangum and Pettigrew streets, before marching past downtown restaurants. They chanted the names of people killed by police and “No justice, no peace.”
Some carried signs that read “Justice for Jacob Blake,” the 29-year-old Black man shot and injured by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23.
Pausing outside the Durham police headquarters, protesters spoke about racism and how shootings by police happen locally too.
Many participants refused to talk with journalists. Several demanded that cameras be turned off.
As the group marched back toward downtown, a few people broke windows at the Register of Deeds Office near Main and Church streets and the former Durham police headquarters at Chapel Hill and Duke streets.
As they marched down Main Street, some protesters chanted “Black people used to live here” — a reference to gentrification in the area.
The group marched back to the jail, where a few people broke windows on the ground floor of the building and spray-painted the words “abolish prisons.”
In an email Sunday, police spokesperson Amanda Fitzpatrick said officials estimated about 200 protesters participated in the march.
Most of the protesters were peaceful, she wrote, but some separated from the group and began damaging property. Early reports indicate they broke windows at the old courthouse and five businesses. They also set a trash receptacle on fire.
There have been no arrests, Fitzpatrick wrote.
Meanwhile, a Saturday night march in Raleigh was relatively quiet, and ended around the city’s 10 p.m. curfew ordered by Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin on Thursday. On Friday night, however, an estimated 1,100 people marched through downtown Raleigh, some vandalizing buildings and many violating the curfew. At least 14 people were arrested by Raleigh police.
This story was originally published August 30, 2020 at 12:33 AM.