When George Floyd, a Third Ward native and Yates High School graduate, died in Minneapolis police custody on Monday after video showed an officer kneeling on his neck, it sparked a wave of uproar across the country that has resulted in protests in more than 30 cities, including Houston.
The officer involved, Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday, four days after Floyd’s death.
But that hasn’t stopped demonstrators from swarming downtown Houston on Saturday to protest Floyd’s death, which Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Twitter on Friday “could have been avoidable.”
Contributing photographer Mikol Kindle Jr. documented what he saw at the demonstrations:
A protester holds an American flag upside down with the words, “No flag is large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people,” sprawled across it. Under it is the hashtag of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has become integral in the protests. | Mikol Kindle Jr./The Cougar
An unidentified demonstrator holds a poster with the names of Floyd and some others who died in police-related altercations in the United States. | Mikol Kindle Jr./The Cougar
Saturday marked the second day police brutality protesters gathered in downtown Houston. | Mikol Kindle Jr./The Cougar
Houston Police Department higher-ups Troy Finner, left, and Matt Slinkard speak to a crowd of protesters. | Mikol Kindle Jr./The Cougar
Finner engaged in a discussion with protesters about police brutality and community relations. | Mikol Kindle Jr./The Cougar
“We are doing this peacefully,” reads one protester’s sign. Some protests, like the ones in Minneapolis, have escalated after clashes with police and looting surged. | Mikol Kindle Jr./The Cougar
A protester wears a shirt with “Big Floyd” written on the back. The moniker served as Floyd’s stage name when he made music in Houston during the ’90s and early 2000s. Floyd, according to multiple reports, collaborated with Houston hip-hop legend DJ Screw. | Mikol Kindle Jr./The Cougar
[email protected]
