[6] The protests became increasingly violent as the day went on; by the evening, demonstrators downtown toppled a statue of Charles Linn, damaged a Thomas Jefferson statue, and broke windows with rocks at the Jefferson County courthouse downtown while also attempting to tear down a 115-year-old Confederate monument at Linn Park, prompting police to eventually disperse the crowd; mayor Randall Woodfin personally attended the park rally, urging peaceful protest.[10] Local comedian Jermaine "FunnyMaine" Johnson was arrested on June 11 for inciting a riot after he spoke at the May 31 rally where he listed a number of locations demonstrators should "not" attack, including "not" tearing down the Charles Linn statue.[11][12] On June 6, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside of Legion Field where they rallied and then jogged in place for eight minutes – the reported amount of time officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck – while chanting "I can't breathe".[22] Two days later, on the evening of June 3, protesters chanting "we are peaceful" in front of Madison County Courthouse were dispersed with tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets.[26] Beginning on June 2, a man named Terry Willis began walking 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Huntsville to the site of George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis to honor him.After stopping in Kentucky and Missouri to pay respects to Breonna Taylor and Michael Brown, victims of law enforcement shootings that also resulted in protests, he arrived at George Floyd Square on July 12.[28][29][30] On June 6, around 75 protesters marched from a statue of pro-Confederate Reverend Abram Joseph Ryan to Mardi Gras Park, where they demanded that civic leaders rename the George Wallace Tunnel, de-fund the police department to increase investment in black communities, and permanently remove Confederate monuments and replace them with notable African Americans from Mobile, among other requests.[36] A separate downtown protest saw 1,000 demonstrators peacefully march and rally, where State Representative Chris England and Southern Christian Leadership Conference National President Charles Steele Jr. spoke to the crowd.
George Floyd protest held at
Hoover
City Hall on June 6, 2020. (video provided by Starnes Media)