JILL TOYOSHIBA | KC response to police killing of George Floyd

KC response to police killing of George Floyd

Police wearing face shields formed a barrier to keep people from stepping off the sidewalk and onto the street near the J.C.Nichols Memorial Fountain at the Country Club Plaza.
Some protesters had heated words for law enforcement.
The peaceful protesters congregated in the road at the intersection of W. 47th Street and J.C. Nichols Parkway.
Protesters marched and chanted up Central Street, temporarily trapping a car.
Police officers form a line as protesters head north on Central Street approaching W. 47th Street.
Law enforcement officers watch as protester march and chant, "Hands up, don't shoot."
Protesters marched and chanted south on J.C. Nichols Parkway through the Country Club Plaza.
Some protesters chanted to get the attention of drivers on Main Street. Five were arrested on the first day.
Several hundred people had gathered near the fountain by the late afternoon.
As the crowd got larger, additional law enforcement officers arrived and lined up south of the protesters.
By evening, the crowd would grow into the thousands.
Protesters were kept on sidewalks by police, who contained the crowds in the park early on.
Protesters left two effigies in the crosswalk on W. 47th Street and J.C. Nichols Parkway. An officer removes one of them from the road.
A man was restrained on the road after a group of protesters started to move from the sidewalk onto J.C. Nichols Parkway. There were 83 arrests that night.
A man is restrained and led to a police van.
A man is restrained and searched by police. From Friday through Wednesday, 230 people had been arrested.
Tensions were building. Protesters congregated at J.C. Nichols Parkway and W. 46th Terrace before marching through the Country Club Plaza.
Police deployed tear gas at J.C. Nichols Parkway and W. 46th Terrace.
Amid water bottles and debris thrown or left by protesters, an officer stands guard inside the perimeter police formed to keep protesters back.
Police wearing gas masks form a line that protesters weren't allowed to cross on J.C. Nichols Parkway at W. 46th Terrace.
A man picks up debris in front of a line of police wearing gas masks.
Protesters get on their knees with hands up and chant on J.C. Nichols Parkway at W. 46th Terrace.
Protestors sound off as they face a police line.
A protester had heated words for officers forming a line across J.C. Nichols Parkway.
A large cloud of tear gas hovers over protesters gathered at Wyandotte Street and W. 47th Street.
Despite the tear gas, protesters stood their ground. In a moment, however, they would flee.
Having just kicked one window in, a man tries to kick in another during the chaos.
A man puts his hands inside Kansas City Police Department SUV that later caught fire during the protest.
People stood around to watch and record a Kansas City Police SUV that had been set on fire.
A man appears to calmly walk by as a police vehicle is engulfed by flames and tear gas deployed nearby.
Police arrived and deployed tear gas.
Troopers prepare to block a street near where a Kansas City police SUV was set on fire. A line of law enforcement began to come from the other direction to close people in.
Windows were destroyed at several businesses in the Country Club Plaza during the second night of protests Saturday.
A window on a W. 47th Street business was destroyed.
Day 3 started off peacefully. Police deployed tear gas after they say protesters began throwing rocks and water bottles at police after the 8 p.m. curfew. There were 63 arrests.
Police ready with gas masks stood by shortly before dispersing the last few dozen protesters a little before 11 p.m.
A woman raises her arms to police shortly before police moved in to surround and close in the last few dozen protesters a little before 11 p.m. on Brookside Boulevard between Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Ward Parkway.
One of the last few dozen protesters standing on Brookside Boulevard south of Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard shouts at police "Hands up, don't shoot."
A couple counter-protested between the police line and protesters on Brookside Boulevard just south of Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard. The woman said Kansas City is too beautiful to be destroyed by protesters and the man said protesters let them know they didn't like the couple's message.
Police move in position to surround and disperse the last few dozen protesters. This group headed south on Brookside Boulevard.
Police move in position to surround and disperse the last few dozen protesters. This group headed east on Ward Parkway.
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas marched with protesters up Main Street from Mill Creek Park to 43rd Street.
While marching with protesters, Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas began leading the chant, "No justice, no peace." The group marched up Main Street from Mill Creek Park to 43rd Street Monday, June 1, 2020. For the fourth night, hundreds of protesters came out to the Country Club Plaza to protest police brutality and the death of George Floyd.
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas stood with protest leaders on the edge of the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain and spoke, chanted and rallied the crowd.
Mayor Quinton Lucas, who grew up in the urban core, said he understands what some have been going through. Lucas said people can talk to the man, right, nicknamed "Spiderman," one of the leaders that night, because he has Lucas' ear.
Police released tear gas some time after Mayor Lucas had gone in order to clear the park.
Police declared an unlawful assembly and began deploying tear gas to clear Mill Creek Park. Protesters, who were blocked by police on Main Street from the north and south, waited behind barricades as more tear gas was deployed.
When some protesters tried to get back to the park, more tear gas was released. Protesters can be seen fleeing on Main Street. They were blocked from the north and south and eventually escaped through side streets to the east.
Kansas City police chief Rick Smith, left, made his first public appearance during protests on Day 6, the day a unity march advertised by the police was to take place. Before the march, Smith made a surprise announcement that funding had been found for body cameras.
Kansas City police advertised a unity march from Southmoreland Park to the Country Club Plaza that included city officials, pastors, churches and community leaders.
People participating in the unity march head down Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard toward the Country Club Plaza. Black Lives Matter had a counter-protest and were awaiting the marchers.
People participating in the unity march arrive at the gateway to the Country Club Plaza where Black Lives Matter met them with a counter-protest.
People participating in the unity march arrive at the gateway to the Country Club Plaza where Black Lives Matter met them with a counter-protest.
Later that evening, protesters moved from the park to the intersection of Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and J.C. Nichols Parkway, where officers moved to adjust. After some chanting, they took off on a march.
Across the country, people with White Coats for Black Lives have been showing solidarity with other protesters while wearing white coats or scrubs. In Kansas City, about 150 health care students and professionals protested at Hospital Hill Park, 22nd Street and Gillham Road.
White Coats for Black Lives protesters raise their fists for a few moments; some cars honked as they passed by.
Recent pharmacy school graduate Tiana Williams told the protesters that it meant a lot that her professional colleagues support black lives.
The protest went from Hospital Hill Park to the corner of 22nd Street and Gillham Road be be visible to passing drivers.
The health care students and professionals with White Coats for Black Lives in Kansas City held a protest at Hospital Hill park the moved to the corner of 22nd Street and Gillham Road and took a knee.
Several people that had been protesting downtown wore red t-shirts honoring George Floyd. They left City Hall and marched down Locust Street in the early evening.
During the ninth day of protests at the Country Club Plaza, a man holds up a sign to honor black people killed recently by white people in law enforcement or with ties to law enforcement.
Protesters marched around the Country Club Plaza, stopping at Nichols Road and Wyandotte Street to listen to a speaker and chant. The protests remained peaceful and police presence had diminished greatly - mostly diverting traffic around protesters to keep them from being harmed. A drastic shift from a week ago.
Protesters freely marched around the Country Club Plaza on the ninth day. Police blocked roads to cars to cars to keep them from safe.
Daren Walker of Kansas City, whose stage name is lil Michael, holds a pose as he ends a dance performance for bystanders on the median at W. 47th Street and J.C. Nichols Parkway. Walker said he's there to "spread positive energy."
With fists raised, protesters near the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain took a knee and held a moment of silence.
Compared to just a few days ago when tear gas, pepper stray and projectile rounds were used on protesters, the last few days of demonstrations without those crowd control methods have ended peacefully.

The killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis on Memorial Day set off global protests calling for an end to police brutality and racism. In Kansas City, Missouri, ongoing protests brought out thousands, first to the Country Club Plaza, followed by downtown then reaching to the suburbs. Heavy police presence, use of tear gas, pepper spray and 'non-lethal' projectile rounds worsened tensions, and by the second and third days, protesters had destroyed shop windows, graffitied walls, torched a police SUV and two news vehicles. By the fifth day, calls for de-escalation caused a shift and police stopped lining up in riot gear and stopped using tear gas, pepper spray and projectile rounds. By the sixth day, the police chief met with protesters and announced that funding for body cameras had been found. Police presence and intimidation tactics decreased and protests became more peaceful, though still spirited. Currently, police are visible diverting traffic so protesters can march without being harmed.