Nashville courthouse vandalized & set on FIRE as riot police try to disperse anti-brutality protesters with tear gas (VIDEOS)
Protesters in Nashville, Tennessee broke into Metro Courthouse, setting fires inside, as peaceful anti-police-brutality rallies slip into chaos and rioting all across the US.
Thousands of people marched peacefully through the city and gathered in the Public Square Park, chanting slogans against police brutality in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
#BREAKING: There's fire inside City Hall. Protestors keep smashing windows. @WPLNpic.twitter.com/uPgLFRCE2W
— Sergio Martínez-Beltrán (@SergioMarBel) May 31, 2020
The violence eventually erupted after some of the protesters were seen burning US flags and spray-painting anti-police slogans on the walls of the Metropolitan Nashville Courthouse – while several rioters managed to break in and set a fire inside.
Nashville police have gotten everyone back from Metro Courthouse using flash bangs and tear gas, which I can attest is highly effective pic.twitter.com/lnfGfyqUSW
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) May 31, 2020
Riot police deployed tear gas to push the crowd away from the building, but the vandalism continued in the area and elsewhere in the city.
Tear gas outside Nashville City Hall. It's burns a lot and it's hard to see and breathe. @WPLN's crew is OK. pic.twitter.com/AHKUppDthL
— Sergio Martínez-Beltrán (@SergioMarBel) May 31, 2020
In the wake of the unrest, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee authorized the National Guard to mobilize in Nashville “in response to protests that have now taken a violent, unlawful turn...”
They’re tearing down all the light poles outside Metro courthouse. It’s extremely dangerous. A second after this one behind me came crashing, missing me by a couple feet pic.twitter.com/PGV106v9Q0
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) May 31, 2020
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