Hundreds of Protesters March in Central Manhattan, No Clashes With Police So Far

NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st June, 2020) Yet another peaceful demonstration against police brutality is taking place in Manhattan, with hundreds of people participating, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

The protest started in Bryant Park at around 17:00 local time on Sunday (21:00 GMT). Hundreds of people started marching in the streets. Police were directing vehicles away from the crowd that was chanting "No Justice - No Peace" and "Black Lives Matter."

On Saturday, between 300 and 350 arrests were made in New York City during protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, an African-American man, who died after Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis white police officer, pinned unarmed Floyd to the ground with his knee for over eight minutes on Monday.

Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. A total of four police officers have been fired in connection with the incident.

A New York City police officer was caught on camera on Saturday pulling down a peaceful protester's mask and pepper-spraying him in the face as he stood with his hands up. In a separate video, a police car was seen ramming a crowd of protesters in Brooklyn.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the city police on Saturday, saying during a late-night news conference that law enforcement officers should not be blamed as they were facing an "impossible situation" with violence being escalated by "outsiders."