A majority of the images broadcast from the weekend’s protests and riots range from discouraging to terrifying, as people take to the streets in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers as well as the Louisville Metropolitan Police killing of Breonna Taylor. In the midst of the chaos, however, there were some scenes of positivity and hope.
In Flint, Michigan, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson gave a speech to protesters assuring them that the police loved them and wanted to help — then he marched with them after they broke out into a chant urging him to do so.
In Louisville, Vice News reporter Roberto Ferdman captured an emotional moment between a Louisville Metro PD officer and a black woman who was protesting.
In another powerful scene, 31-year-old Curtis Hayes from North Carolina is seen in a heated conversation with a 46-year-old man who is angry and frustrated, and ready to riot. Hayes tells him he understands that feeling, then brings a 16-year-old black kid over to explain the danger of rioting and looting, and to urge the young man to find a better way to affect change in the future.
“What you see right now is going to happen 10 years from now, and at 26, you’re going to be doing the same thing I’m doing,” Hayes tells the teenager. “So what I need y’all to do right now, at 16, is come up with a better way. Because how we doing it, it ain’t working.
“He’s angry at 46. I’m angry at 31. You’re angry at 16. … Putting yourself in harm’s way is not the way,” Hayes said.
There is some strong content language in this video:
In Brooklyn, some George Floyd protesters formed a human chain to prevent some bad actors from looting a Target.
“I was right there, front-line, explaining to them that we are simply doing a peaceful protest,” a protester named David told Forbes.