Arrests at widespread US protests hit 10,000

PHOENIX (AP) — More than 10,000 people have been arrested in protests decrying racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death, according to an Associated Press tally of known arrests across the United States.

The count has grown by the hundreds each day as protesters spilled into the streets and encountered a heavy police presence and curfews that give law enforcement stepped-up arrest powers.

Los Angeles has had more than a quarter of the national arrests, followed by New York, Dallas and Philadelphia. Many of the arrests have been for low-level offences such as curfew violations and failure to disperse.

Hundreds were arrested on burglary and looting charges.

As cities were engulfed in unrest last week, politicians claimed that the majority of the protesters were outside agitators, including a contention by Minnesota’s governor that 80 percent of the participants in the demonstrations were from out of state.

The arrests in Minneapolis during a frenzied weekend tell a different story.

In a nearly 24-hour period from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, 41 of the 52 people cited with protest-related arrests had Minnesota driver’s licenses, according to the Hennepin County sheriff.

In the nation’s capital, 86 percent of the more than 400 people arrested as of Wednesday afternoon were from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

It is not known how many of the people arrested were locked up — an issue at a time when many of the nation’s jails are dealing with coronavirus outbreaks.

The protesters are often placed in zip-ties and hauled away from the scene in buses.

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