Foley Square protest planned Friday following George Floyd police custody death

29 May 2020, 10:41

FOLEY SQUARE (WABC) -- Demonstrators will gather in New York City for a second straight day to protest the death of a black Minnesota man in police custody.

The rally in Foley Square is set for Friday at 4 p.m.

On Thursday, protesters angry about the death of George Floyd defied the city's prohibition on public gatherings and staged a chaotic rally that started in Union Square and spread through Lower Manhattan through the night.

There were some extremely emotional moments for protesters, who faced off with officers enforcing social distancing rules.

Jim Dolan has more on the protests that broke out in NYC following the violent arrest death of George Floyd.

The NYPD says 72 of them were either arrested or summonsed, many for not maintaining social distance.

Five were charged with felony assaults on police officers. 33 were arrested for misdemeanors, ranging from obstructing governmental administration to resisting arrest. And 34 others were cited for various violations, including disorderly conduct for blocking streets.

Two officers were hospitalized for concussions, one after he was struck by a flying garbage can, and another who was thrown to ground and briefly knocked out.

A third officer, an inspector, was punched in the face but not seriously injured.

Dozens of protesters were arrested in NYC as they protested the death of George Floyd.

Thursday's protest began in Union Square with Black Lives Matter protesters.

That was broken up and the protest then picked up at Foley Square, the site planned for Friday's rally.

Gwen Carr, whose son, Eric Garner, died while in police custody, is expected to attend.

"This is just opening up an old wound and pouring salt into it," Carr said on Thursday. "The police officers come into our neighborhoods to brutalize, terrorize, and murder our children, and we have done nothing."

With the recent death of a black man who died during an arrest involving four Minneapolis police officers -- one of whom was kneeling on the handcuffed man's neck -- on Monday nigh

The NYPD claims some of their officers were injured in Thursday's demonstrations.

They also claim one person tried to grab the gun of a deputy inspector.

The officers were not seriously hurt.

The mayor of Minneapolis has called for criminal charges against the white police officer seen on video kneeling against the neck of the handcuffed black man who complained that he could not breathe and died in police custody.

Based on the video, Mayor Jacob Frey said officer Derek Chauvin should be charged in the death of George Floyd. The footage recorded by a bystander shows Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck as Floyd gasps for breath on the ground with his face against the pavement. The officer does not move for at least eight minutes, even after Floyd stops speaking and moving.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said if Floyd was white, he would be alive right now.

At least two of the officers involved in Floyd's arrest have been investigated for previous violent incidents.

The four officers have been fired, but so far no criminal charges have been filed against any of them.