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| Manassas braces for another night of protest as demonstrations spread across D.C. region | Manassas braces for another night of protest as demonstrations spread across D.C. region |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| In Prince William County, Va., police are bringing in extra staff and girding for more unrest after five people were arrested — and seven injured — when a peaceful gathering of several hundred people on Saturday turned unruly and violent in Manassas. | In Prince William County, Va., police are bringing in extra staff and girding for more unrest after five people were arrested — and seven injured — when a peaceful gathering of several hundred people on Saturday turned unruly and violent in Manassas. |
| And in Germantown, Md., dozens blocked an intersection as a protest made its way through the area on Sunday afternoon. | And in Germantown, Md., dozens blocked an intersection as a protest made its way through the area on Sunday afternoon. |
| The protests were among demonstrations across the greater Washington region and beyond after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week. In the nation’s capital, large crowds gathered again Sunday in Lafayette Square outside the White House and District leaders braced for a third night of protests. | The protests were among demonstrations across the greater Washington region and beyond after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week. In the nation’s capital, large crowds gathered again Sunday in Lafayette Square outside the White House and District leaders braced for a third night of protests. |
| D.C. braces for third day of protests as new crowd gathers outside White House | D.C. braces for third day of protests as new crowd gathers outside White House |
| The demonstrations Saturday in Manassas left six police vehicles mangled by rocks or debris and five businesses damaged, including one store into which demonstrators attempted to ram a car, county deputy chief of police Jarad Phelps said Sunday during an emergency session of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. | The demonstrations Saturday in Manassas left six police vehicles mangled by rocks or debris and five businesses damaged, including one store into which demonstrators attempted to ram a car, county deputy chief of police Jarad Phelps said Sunday during an emergency session of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. |
| In increasingly tense exchanges starting around 4:30 p.m. Saturday and lasting until 1 a.m., protesters lobbed stones at police and also reportedly stopped passing motorists to jump on the roofs of their cars and assault some inside the vehicles. | In increasingly tense exchanges starting around 4:30 p.m. Saturday and lasting until 1 a.m., protesters lobbed stones at police and also reportedly stopped passing motorists to jump on the roofs of their cars and assault some inside the vehicles. |
| In response, Phelps said law enforcement used “a chemical agent” and rubber bullets to try to force calm. He said the injured included two state police officers and four county police, one of whom received stitches for a wound on his face. There was only one civilian injury, Phelps said: a woman whose foot was run over by a car. | In response, Phelps said law enforcement used “a chemical agent” and rubber bullets to try to force calm. He said the injured included two state police officers and four county police, one of whom received stitches for a wound on his face. There was only one civilian injury, Phelps said: a woman whose foot was run over by a car. |
| “There was tremendous restraint from the officers,” he said. “It could have been much worse. It’s very trying to have things thrown at you [and] watch your fellow officers get injured.” | “There was tremendous restraint from the officers,” he said. “It could have been much worse. It’s very trying to have things thrown at you [and] watch your fellow officers get injured.” |
| He said police arrested the five individuals after declaring the gathering an unlawful assembly following reports that protesters were attacking motorists. | |
| Phelps said he thinks Saturday’s events are going to fuel retaliatory responses from protesters over the next few days, including on Sunday evening. But he declined to ask the board to impose a curfew, saying it “is only going to add fuel to the fire.” | |
| “We’re just dealing with hot spots right now,” Phelps said. “We don’t want it to become widespread.” | |
| Virginia State Del. Lee Carter (D-Manassas) — who said police targeted him with stun grenades and pepper spray during Saturday’s protests — said he was more worried about police strategy going forward. | |
| Carter said he stopped by the protest after seeing reports of “police violence” from constituents on Twitter. He said he had phoned ahead to let police know he was coming, but was ignored as he approached a line of officers and asked to speak to the one in charge. | |
| Carter, who says he identified himself as a member of the state legislature, said a law enforcement official from an agency he could not identify threw a stun gun at his feet. He says he also was targeted with more flashbang grenades from police even as he walked away and later, was shoved to the ground and pepper sprayed. | |
| The Republican Party of Virginia called on Carter to resign after a video showed the lawmaker saying “I write the state police budget and they’re going to f------ regret this!” during the Saturday confrontation. | |
| Carter replied on Twitter with a simple “no” and said he stood by his comments, specifically promising he would work to shrink the police budget. “When an executive branch agency flashbangs a legislator and then pepper sprays him and flashbangs him two more times, there should be a reprisal for that,” he said. “That is an agency that is out of control.” | |
| Protestors are at the Middlebrook Rd ramp to I-270. Police are preventing them from actually going further onto the ramp and onto the highway. pic.twitter.com/NMxNlUypfD | Protestors are at the Middlebrook Rd ramp to I-270. Police are preventing them from actually going further onto the ramp and onto the highway. pic.twitter.com/NMxNlUypfD |
| In Germantown, a protest that began near the Montgomery College Germantown Campus around 2 p.m. Sunday grew to about 100 people over the next few hours. | In Germantown, a protest that began near the Montgomery College Germantown Campus around 2 p.m. Sunday grew to about 100 people over the next few hours. |
| Around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, protesters marched down Route 335 to Germantown Road. The Montgomery County Police Department was on the scene directing traffic around the demonstration. | Around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, protesters marched down Route 335 to Germantown Road. The Montgomery County Police Department was on the scene directing traffic around the demonstration. |
| “It is a peaceful protest so it is something that we 100 percent support,” said Montgomery County police spokesman Capt. Tom Jordan. “This is why we are in this country. You are able to express your displeasure and we are supportive of that.” | “It is a peaceful protest so it is something that we 100 percent support,” said Montgomery County police spokesman Capt. Tom Jordan. “This is why we are in this country. You are able to express your displeasure and we are supportive of that.” |