Protests continue to take over cities in the United States in the wake of George Floyd‘s death while in police custody on Monday. After unrest sparked out of Minneapolis earlier in the week, it quickly spread across the nation in cities like New York, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. into Friday night.
San Jose popped up as another location on Saturday after a night of unrest in Oakland and San Francisco. The video below reportedly comes from San Jose. It is quickly going viral on Twitter after capturing a police officer smiling over clashing with protesters and later aggressively confronted protesters before opening fire.
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THESE ARE THE OFFICERS I WAS TALKING ABOUT THEY WERE WAITING WITH EXCITEMENT pic.twitter.com/n4GZhZBLGW
— ty⁷ BLM (@7interlude) May 30, 2020
The video quickly made the rounds online, with many pointing to it as an example of what is wrong with law enforcement in the U.S. currently. Many also managed to dig up the alleged police officer’s purported identity, urging many to file complaints about him after the second video emerged.
In the second video, the officer is heard shouting at a protester with an explicit message before sparking a larger confrontation. “Shut up b—,” the officer says to someone off-camera. Shortly after, the officer pointed his gun and seemed to open fire with non-deadly rounds.
— RAISE THE DEGREE | Ami ✿↝ (@HOEWITZERIMPACT) May 30, 2020
The outrage over the death of Floyd sparked several other incidents in California leading into Saturday. Protesters clashed with police and attempted to shut down Highway 101, while police were quick to violence and seemingly inciting some confrontations.
All of this comes on the heels of San Jose seeking to lower uses of force and de-escalate confrontations with citizens.
SKY7 was overhead as a fight broke out between a demonstrator and police during a #GeorgeFloyd protest in San Jose. Live coverage here: https://t.co/X0t9xTE2ZQ pic.twitter.com/9y3fipnbHM
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) May 30, 2020
“We wanted to get better,” Chief Eddie Garcia said, according to Mercury News. “Everyone expects me to say those things, but it’s the officers who responded by believing in de-escalation and putting themselves on the line. That’s how we’re moving the needle.”
Judging from the protests and some of the reactions to those on the streets, work still needs to be done by the department.
