Salt Lake is eerily quiet on this Monday afternoon after a painful weekend of demonstrating against police brutality. Just a week ago, George Floyd, an African-American man, died while in police custody. Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt his entire body weight on Floyd’s neck while fellow officers helped hold Floyd down and another office stood by as a bystander. All four officers were later fired. Chauvin has been charged with third degree murder and manslaughter, although there are conflicting autopsies.
This act of police brutality ignited mass protests in almost every major city across the country, and has caused outrage worldwide, echoing the frustrations and oppression of the African American community. Here in Salt Lake City, we witnessed for the first time a protest gone violent. Below is a gallery of images from this weekends protests, at the Capitol building and by the City Library. By Saturday night, despite the sound of sirens and helicopters permeating downtown, volunteers were already at work cleaning up trash and graffiti.
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