George Floyd protests move back into uptown Charlotte; 27 arrested

Protests resumed in uptown Charlotte Monday night in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minnesota.

Following a daytime protest in SouthPark and an early evening protest in and around Freedom Park, roughly 200 people marched through uptown after dark Monday, the fourth day of demonstrations in Charlotte.

Shortly after 10 p.m. demonstrators began marching in uptown, chanting “hands up, don’t shoot” and “no justice, no peace.” They knelt in front of a line of officers on bikes at the corner of Church Street and Trade Street.

Many demonstrators yelled and cursed at officers but were able for a time to move through the city as police watched from bicycles and motorcycles. Tensions escalated after police detained the first demonstrator outside of Bank of American Stadium just after 11 p.m.

Protesters, meeting a line of officers stationed at Mint Street, yelled and jeered at them. Police at one point pulled two demonstrators behind the police line, and then used pepper spray on protesters who watched and angrily reacted to the arrest.

From then on, police increased crowd dispersal tactics and arrests.

Police said they arrested 27 people Monday night and reported confiscating one firearm, two machetes, a baseball bat and a metal pole. Since Friday, police have arrested 97 people in connection with the protests, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Officers fired pepper pellets and flash bangs to disband the crowd Monday. Reporters on the scene were pushed back by police along with the crowds, and at times could not get close enough to safely witness direct police-protester interactions.

Around 11:30, officers issued an order to disperse. It was around that time officers in protective gear arrived on city buses and in vehicles. Police began closing off access to intersections as protesters began to split off into smaller groups.

Three officers received medical attention and were later released, according to CMPD.

Earlier protests on Monday broke away from the usual uptown locations and into the city’s more affluent neighborhoods. During the afternoon, a group marched through SouthPark, an upscale shopping district, in front of the mall and office buildings.

Later in the evening, hundreds of people gathered in Freedom Park, in the Dilworth and Myers Park area, for a march that wound through residential streets and drew support from neighbors, who waved signs, handed out water and joined the demonstrators.

Police stood by the Dilworth protest on motorbikes and bicycles, which largely progressed unimpeded.

This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 11:41 PM.