The Protests Against Police Brutality in Texas, in Photos
Demonstrations against police brutality took place in cities large and small across Texas this weekend.
Demonstrations against police brutality took place in cities large and small across Texas this weekend.
A wave of protests swept across Texas cities this weekend to oppose police brutality and systemic racism, a response in part to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man and former Houstonite, died in police custody on May 25 after a white police officer handcuffed him and pinned him to the ground. A video depicting the death went viral, setting off a chain of massive protests across the country. In Austin, Dallas, and Houston, police deployed tear gas and fired rubber bullets at demonstrators to disperse protests and arrested people en masse. According to the Houston Chronicle, an estimated 274 people were arrested in Houston on Saturday night alone. Protests in Austin and Dallas went on for three days straight. In San Antonio, anti-racism marchers met an armed right-wing group at the Alamo, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Later in the evening, protestors egged San Antonio Police Department squad cars; people were seen breaking windows and throwing glass. Police responded by using tear gas and pepper spray on protestors and shooting at least one rubber bullet. Governor Greg Abbott declared a statewide disaster and deployed the Texas National Guard on Sunday to quell the protests.
Outside of Texas’ largest cities—in Waco, Odessa, Beaumont, Amarillo, and elsewhere—demonstrators staged protests with little interference. And in Lufkin, a city in a region of Texas with a long, virulent history of racial violence against Black people, more than 100 people attended a Black Lives Matter protest.
Below, you’ll find some of the weekend’s most powerful photos. This story will be updated as protests continue. Contribute photos by emailing [email protected]. —Sunny Sone
Protesters demonstrate against police brutality in front of Dallas City Hall on Saturday, May 30. On Sunday, city leaders imposed a 7 p.m. curfew in response to protests on Friday and Saturday. Some demonstrators told the Dallas Morning News that peaceful events turned violent after police used tear gas on crowds.
Volunteers pick up broken glass after a night of protests in Dallas.
In Houston, where Floyd grew up, protestors clashed with police officers on Friday after a largely peaceful rally.
More than 100 people were arrested in Houston on Friday alone. In one widely shared incident captured on a cell phone, a protestor was knocked over by a mounted police officer and trampled on by their horse. On Saturday, demonstrations remained generally without incident until the evening, when Houston police arrested an estimated 274 people mostly for blocking roadways. No protests were planned for Sunday; another march for Floyd’s family is planned for Tuesday.
Hundreds of demonstrators peacefully marched through the streets of Odessa on Sunday.
Demonstrators at a Black Lives Matter protest in Waco took a knee and remained silent for eight minutes in remembrance of the time George Floyd spent pinned to the ground by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Friday.
A spray painted message is seen on the Alamo Cenotaph—a monument commemorating the Battle of the Alamo—in San Antonio on Friday, ahead of the weekend protests.
State troopers guard the South Lawn at the Texas Capitol on Sunday. The Texas African American History Memorial is prominent behind them. Several Confederate monuments also adorn the lawn.
Protestors in Austin stopped traffic on I-35 several times over the weekend. Police responded by deploying tear gas and shooting rubber bullets at protestors.
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