Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh declared a state of emergency early Sunday morning as protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death escalated to clashes between police and protesters and looting of stores. Walsh has placed the city under a curfew, banning people from being in public between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. until further notice.

Hundreds had rallied peacefully outside the Syracuse Police Department’s headquarters on Saturday afternoon. Protesters then marched through the evening, traveling to Solvay and later clashing with police outside the Public Safety Building. Officers deployed tear gas after a window was broken at the Onondaga County Justice Center, Syracuse.com reported.

SPD ordered all protesters to evacuate the area at around 10 p.m. The department stated on Twitter minutes before that objects were being thrown at police on the 500 block of S. State Street, where the Onondaga County Justice Center is located. Officers began yelling “move back,” slowly forcing protesters to move further down State Street. Most of the crowd dispersed, but some people began looting stores downtown.

As of 11:40 p.m., looting had taken place at several stores in the 300 block of South Salina Street, including Street Game, Villa and a convenience store. SPD posted a statement at 12:25 a.m. that the protests had continued onto North Salina Street, with “multiple businesses damaged and theft taking place.”

The protest is one of several in cities across the country after Floyd, a Black man, died Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.

The protest in Syracuse comes one day after Derek Chauvin, the officer responsible for Floyd’s death, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Syracuse protesters chanted “he couldn’t breathe.”

SPD carried out fewer than ten arrests during the protests, and no officers received serious injuries, SPD Chief Kenton Buckner said during a press briefing at 1:45 a.m. Sunday.

In statement late Saturday night, Mayor Ben Walsh expressed support for peaceful protest in the city, saying he shares the community’s outrage over Floyd’s death. But the mayor urged the few protesters engaging in “aggressive and dangerous” behavior to disband.

“My commitment is firm to strengthen and improve police community relations and ensure equitable law enforcement in the City of Syracuse,” Walsh said. “We can emerge from this national crisis stronger than ever.”

 

Hundreds have gathered outside the Public Safety Building in downtown Syracuse to protest police brutality following the death of George Floyd. Follow along for updates. pic.twitter.com/VDkcTAlMFf

— Emma Folts (@emmafolts) May 30, 2020

Protesters had gathered in the street outside SPD headquarters at about 5:45 p.m. As parts of the crowd moved to the sidewalk, some began chanting George Floyd’s name and “hands up, don’t shoot.” Some later kneeled on the ground, raised their hands and chanted “no justice, no peace.”

One protester stood and faced SPD headquarters, staring silently with hands raised. At one point, an officer peered out of a window at the headquarters. Clifford Ryan, an anti-violence activist, encouraged the crowd not to focus on the officer.

Protesters began marching down Genesee Street toward the town of Solvay around 6 p.m. They chanted, “Black Lives Matter,” “George Floyd” and “no justice, no peace.” Families with small children held hands as they walked with the other protesters.

Hundreds of protesters marched through downtown Syracuse, then to Tipp Hill and eventually the Town of Solvay. Emma Folts | Managing Editor

Demonstrators leading the march knelt for a brief moment in the middle of an intersection at least twice and raised their signs. Some followed the march in cars, honking their horns or yelling out their windows.

Around 7 p.m. protesters stopped and gathered in the street. They had reached Tipp Hill, about 2 miles from the city. They continued walking a few minutes later. At about 8:30 p.m., the crowd began walking and driving up Milton Avenue in Solvay to return to Syracuse.

As the sun set overhead and the sound of car horns drowned out the streets, drivers lifted fists through open car windows. Some passengers leaned out windows or sat on the roofs of vehicles as they drove toward the city. Police cars appeared to block off side streets.

By about 9 p.m., the growing sound of car horns could once again be heard on Genesee Street in downtown Syracuse, near Clinton Square. The protesters moved through the city once again, the sparking of firecrackers occasionally breaking through the sound of car horns.

The crowd had returned to SPD headquarters as of 9:40 p.m. A window was broken at the Onondaga County Justice Center by that time. Riot police had arrived and deployed tear gas near 10 p.m. and police could be heard ordering the crowd to “move back.”

Ethan Tyo, a graduate student at Syracuse University who is of the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, lives about two blocks away from Columbus Circle. They left their building at about 9:45 p.m. with a group of friends to find another who was participating in the protest.

As soon as Tyo left their building, police entered the area and began blocking off roads. SPD ordered all protesters to clear the area at about 10 p.m, stating that objects were being thrown at officers. 

A turning point in the evening was when police first fired rubber bullets into the crowd, Tyo said. Police officers moved forward suddenly following a call over a loudspeaker, they wrote in a Facebook post. 

“It was only a few rounds, but it was something that just happened seemingly out of nowhere,” Tyo said. 

Officers began securing the street near the Mission restaurant, near E. Onondaga St., at which point Tyo found their friend and returned to their building with the group. Tyo later returned to “understand the situation better,” they wrote on Facebook. 

A protester threw a glass bottle toward police officers at about 11:30 p.m., Syracuse.com reported. The crowd began to disperse immediately, and police moments later fired rubber bullets into the crowd, Tyo wrote on Facebook. Police, including some in riot gear, came from every direction and tackled and arrested several people before forming a blockade again, they wrote.

“That was the first time where I saw people rush the crowd, people running all over the place,” Tyo said. “It was one of those things where in the moment everyone around was like ‘what is going on?’”

No one instigated a violent attack, Tyo said, but they left the scene and returned to their building at about 12:30 p.m. 

“From my experience and where I was at any given time, the protests were 98% non-violent,” Tyo said on Facebook. “Most were In solidarity.”

Syracuse University released a statement earlier on Saturday regarding the ongoing protests in Minnesota, Georgia and New York. The statement did not mention the Syracuse protest.

“We recognize the hate and terror that continues to infect each and every corner of our country and world,” university officials said in their email. “We must choose—through our words, thoughts and deeds—to emerge as a stronger and more just community.”

The university did not mention #NotAgainSU in its statement. #NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students, has protested SU’s response to a slew of racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic incidents that have occurred on or near campus since November.

Published on May 30, 2020 at 6:14 pm

Contact Emma: esfolts@syr.edu