George Floyd protests in New York City

A video of the incident, depicting the officer kneeling on Floyd's neck for an extended period, attracted widespread outrage leading to local, national, and international protests and demonstrations.[2] In New York City, reactions to the incident drew comparisons to Eric Garner, who died after being put in a chokehold by police in Staten Island in 2014, likewise sparking a national outcry and becoming a major event in the Black Lives Matter movement.Groups of police pushed and struck demonstrators with batons, and used pepper spray on others, including assemblywoman Diana Richardson and New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie.[14][19] The New York Times described the day's events as "largely peaceful demonstrations [which] turned into jarring scenes of flaming debris, stampedes, and looted storefronts".[22] In June 2022, under revised agreements before U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn, both pleaded guilty of conspiracy to commit arson and possession of an explosive device.[19] According to The New York Times, "As the crowd moved peacefully up Fifth Avenue, a small group of teenage protesters started knocking over trash cans, drawing rebukes from the rest of the demonstrators.Gothamist described "shattered glass, bare mannequins, and flaming dumpsters [which] littered the streets of SoHo" the next morning, remarking on the "widespread looting" that "picked clean" several luxury fashion stores.Whereas citizens had typically leaned out their windows at 7:00 p.m. to applaud medical personnel and other essential workers, doctors instead turned up to support Black victims of police violence and call attention to systemic inequities through which the coronavirus has similarly disproportionately affected communities of color.The demonstrators chanted and raised their arms for about 10 minutes while other police in riot gear surrounded them, using a technique called kettling, before moving in, striking protesters with batons, and making arrests.[61] Commissioner Shea said the intervention was "executed nearly flawlessly" and justified police actions by citing "outside agitators" that he said were planning to "burn things down ... injure cops ... [and] cause mayhem."[61][63] Aggressive post-curfew policing also occurred later in the evening in Fort Greene and Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where officers charged into a group of demonstrators, tackling protesters to the ground and making multiple arrests.[64] The Times reported on groups of volunteers setting up "jail support" sites, providing medical supplies, hand sanitizer, shoelaces, food, and advice to people as they were released after being arrested.[82] The group maintained a community library, garden, welcome desk, and tea house, and implemented systems for the collection and distribution of food and supplies, public safety, and wireless internet.After the budget deadline passed, some remained in the park, but reports of vandalism and homelessness grew and police forcibly cleared the area a month after it began, on July 22.[91][92][90] President Donald Trump noted the incident, calling for "Anarchists" to be prosecuted under a new executive order aimed at stopping efforts to remove monuments of slave-owners and racists.At a National Action Network event in Harlem on the anniversary of Floyd's murder, Al Sharpton, Mayor de Blasio, and others took a knee for nine minutes, twenty-two seconds.[66] On June 1, Mayor Bill de Blasio met with Governor Cuomo and the two declared a curfew for New York City starting at 11 p.m., lasting until 5:00 a.m. Tuesday morning.According to the New Yorker's Emily Witt, "the Mayor appeared to have given the carte blanche to arrest whomever it wanted after nightfall, and process them through a crowded Central Booking, which raised some questions: Whose health?"[60] Brooklyn district attorney Eric Gonzalez similarly announced his intention to decline prosecuting unlawful assembly, and added violating curfew to the lesser charges his office would pass on.The Black, Latino and Asian Caucus of the New York City Council released a statement a few days into the protests saying the NYPD "[acted] with aggression towards New Yorkers who vigorously and vociferously but nonetheless peacefully advocated for justice".[29] The New York Times collected videos depicting police use of force during the protests, which it published in July 2020, leading Mayor de Blasio to request investigations of the incidents.[18][103] The charges were met with criticism by police union leader Patrick Lynch, who argued the officer's "boss sent him out there, to do a job, was put in a bad situation during a chaotic time"."[19][8] The Guardian wrote that the video, viewed more than 30 million times as of June 4, "quickly shredded years of effort to repair the deeply tarnished image of the NYPD".[8] In December 2023, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban cleared officers Andrey Samusev and Daniel Alvarez of misconduct charges sought by the Civilian Complaint Review Board for improper use of force.[115] The internal disciplinary process did not result in any discipline for the act, although the officer lost ten vacation days for not filling out the correct paperwork and failing to notify his supervisor about the incident.Six of the cases, including a suit filed by Attorney General Letitia James, were consolidated by Judge Colleen McMahon in June 2021 and put on a faster schedule, slated to begin in early 2022.[123] The New York City Council moved on June 8 to pass the legislation, with a scope went beyond its original ban, covering not just chokeholds but any action which "restricts the flow of air or blood by compressing the windpipe, diaphragm, or the carotid arteries" while making an arrest.On May 30, Governor Andrew Cuomo requested that Letitia James and the New York State Office of the Attorney General look into the NYPD's response to the George Floyd protests, following news of violence between police and demonstrators.[141] In addition to risks taken by protesters, several outlets criticized police working the events for failing to wear face masks as required by policy and by order of the governor.Volunteers painted the words "Black Lives Matter" in large yellow letters, accompanied by the names of people killed by racial violence like George Floyd.