海角大神

As聽protests grip the nation,聽officers have doused crowds with pepper spray, struck protesters with batons, steered police cars into throngs, shoved demonstrators, and screamed curses. Some police action has been directed against people smashing windows, breaking into stores, and burning cars, but many find other instances more difficult to understand 鈥� like the elderly man knocked over by police as he walked with a cane on a Salt Lake City sidewalk.

The protests began after the May 25聽death of George Floyd,聽a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white police officer who is now charged with murder, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee into Mr. Floyd's neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.

Now, some are questioning whether tough police tactics against demonstrators are actually making the violence worse rather than quelling it.

While the protests and subsequent police interactions may be shocking to some, many African Americans aren鈥檛 surprised because they鈥檝e聽endured police brutality聽for decades, said Chris White, director of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 happening, it鈥檚 the way American society has always been,鈥� Mr. White said.

In some places, the opposite story unfolded. 聽that several cities saw police joining peaceful protests:聽

In Santa Cruz, California, Police Chief Andy Mills took a knee with protesters in the pose made famous by Colin Kaepernick, with the department聽tweeting聽it was 鈥渋n memory of George Floyd & bringing attention to police violence against Black people.鈥� Two Kansas City, Missouri, police officers鈦� 鈥� one white man, one black man 鈥� were photographed聽holding aloft聽a sign reading 鈥淓ND Police Brutality!鈥澛營n Fargo, North Dakota, an officer was seen聽clasping hands聽with protest organizers while holding up a sign reading 鈥淲e are one race . . . The HUMAN race.鈥�

These displays of solidarity can hinge on existing relationships between the community and local police, :

For Camden, New Jersey, a city that had long been known for high crime rates, the police demonstrating alongside protesters in an ultimately peaceful event was not just a one-day phenomenon, but the continuation of years of efforts to bridge ties with residents since 2013, when the county police department took over public safety from the city's police agency. ...聽When officials in Camden learned plans for a demonstration were coming together, the police were able to get involved and join in because of the community ties they had made.

"I know that all cops aren't bad, so once I heard that they wanted to get involved, I was like, 'Sure, let's go for it, we can stand in solidarity,'" [said] Yolanda Deaver, a local hair salon owner who organized the demonstration.

But in other cities where violence erupted, some blame police for instigating conflict. U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, who was hit by pepper spray Saturday as scuffles broke out near the end of a demonstration in Columbus, Ohio, said police escalated matters by using heavy-handed tactics against 鈥減assionate鈥� young demonstrators who were mostly orderly.

鈥淭oo much force is not the answer to this,鈥� said Ms. Beatty, who pressed for peaceful tactics on both sides in a聽video聽posted on Twitter by Columbus City Council president Shannon Hardin, who also was pepper-sprayed. Both are African American.

In Salt Lake City, a police officer shoved and knocked over an older man who was walking with a cane on a sidewalk near a protest. Another officer stepped in within seconds to assist the man, as did the officer who knocked him down. Police Chief Mike Brown issued a聽video聽Sunday saying he'd personally apologized to the man.

鈥淚t was hard for me to watch what happened, and I know it was even harder for him to experience it,鈥� Mr. Brown said.

In New York, where聽video聽showed two police vehicles driving into a crowd, knocking aside demonstrators, Mayor Bill de Blasio decried what he called "structural racism" that leads to violence against minorities, but also defended police.

鈥淚t is inappropriate for protesters to surround a police vehicle and threaten police officers,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 wrong on its face and that hasn鈥檛 happened in the history of protests in this city.鈥�

Two聽police officers in Atlanta聽were fired and three others placed on desk duty over excessive use of force during a protest incident involving two college students Saturday night. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Sunday that she and the police chief made the decision after reviewing body-camera footage.

Footage shown on TV as captured by local reporters shows a group of police officers in riot gear and gas masks surround a car being driven by a man with a woman in the passenger seat. The officers pull the woman out and appear to use a stun gun on the man. They use zip-tie handcuffs on the woman on the ground.

In a message some saw as encouraging police violence, President Donald Trump praised U.S. Secret Service officers guarding the White House amid demonstrations and said any protesters who breached its fence would face 鈥渢he most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That鈥檚 when people would have been really badly hurt, at least.鈥�

In a letter titled 鈥淒ear America,鈥� civil rights leader Rev. William Barber II, a pastor at Greenleaf 海角大神 Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina, said protesters have the right to decry 鈥渂rutal and inhumane鈥� treatment at the hands of police.

鈥淲hat if, instead of a President who tweets 鈥榳hen the looting starts, the shooting starts,' we had leadership that could unequivocally say, 'When you use police power in the name of the state to murder, lynch, and destroy, you will be prosecuted for your crimes,'" Mr. Barber wrote.

Mr. Trump wasn't alone in using loaded language.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety sent a聽tweet聽Saturday saying it would strengthen its response to 鈥渁 sophisticated network of urban warfare.鈥� Hours later,聽video聽emerged of police shooting paint projectiles at people gathered on the front porch of a home after curfew in Minneapolis. 鈥淟ight 'em up,鈥� a man is heard saying before the shooting began. No one appeared seriously injured.

Activist Meeko Williams organized a peaceful demonstration in Detroit on Friday and later traveled to Minnesota to help support organizers there. Trying to understand what he sees as increasingly aggressive law enforcement tactics, Mr. Williams said police shouldn't 鈥渁ntagonize, provoke, or instigate鈥� protesters.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen over these next few days in this country because they want these killer cops arrested and they鈥檙e not going to stop until they are,鈥� Mr. Williams said, referring to the lack of charges against the other three officers at the scene when Mr. Floyd's neck was pinned under Mr. Chauvin's knee. 鈥淧eople are just sick and tired of being in this predicament, where innocent life has been taken at the hands of those who were to protect and serve us. We have not been heard.鈥�

Some protesters are increasing efforts to protect themselves. On Sunday, Black Lives Matter organizers in Tampa, Florida, had nearly 100 safety marshals in fluorescent vests patrolling their march, trained in de-escalation tactics. The group also had medics and enlisted lawyers and those with legal training to watch out for protesters鈥� rights from the sidelines.

In New York, a police labor group, the Detectives' Endowment Association, noted some police there had been attacked and patrol cars set ablaze.

鈥淎s we do everything to stop NYC from burning, all we hear from elected officials is criticism," the group tweeted. 鈥淢aybe they should try it on the front lines.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽

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