New Yorkers gather for Floyd memorial as protests continue

New Yorkers gathered on Thursday for a memorial service for George Floyd, whose death last week at the hands of Minneapolis police has prompted ongoing global protests against police brutality. Demonstrators protesting Floyd's May 25 death once again marched through the city as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio sought to deflect criticism over the harsh tactics used by officers who used batons and pepper spray to disperse crowds of peaceful protesters Wednesday night.

Both Democrats said they had not seen widely shared videos of officers using batons on protesters who remained in Brooklyn's Cadman Plaza after the 8 pm curfew. “If they hit somebody, if somebody's standing there and they just walked up to somebody and hit them with a baton, clearly that's wrong,” Cuomo said. "But I don't believe that's what happened. If they did that, it's wrong.” De Blasio said police have used “a lot of restraint” overall and added, "but if there's anything that needs to be reviewed, it will be.” The governor and mayor said protesters should abide by the 8 p.m. curfew put in place earlier this week to deter the violence, vandalism, and destruction that followed protests Sunday and Monday nights.

“If you are violating the curfew and you refuse to leave so you continue to violate the curfew, the police officers have to enforce the law, which is: you're supposed to off the street," Cuomo said. The mayor said, “If, at a certain point, officers say, 'It's time, people need to go now,' people need to listen to that." The citywide curfew, New York's first in decades, is set to remain in effect through at least Sunday, with the city planning to lift it at the same time it enters the first phase of reopening after more than two months of shutdowns because of the coronavirus.

Wednesday night unfolded without the vandalism and smash-and-grab sprees that forced merchants around the city to board their stores up preemptively, but police said a man ambushed officers on an anti-looting patrol in Brooklyn shortly before midnight, stabbing him in the neck. The attacker was shot by responding officers and was in critical condition. Two officers suffered gunshot wounds to their hands in the chaos, but all three wounded officers were expected to recover.

Officer Yayonfrant Jean Pierre, who was stabbed in the neck, and the other wounded officers, Randy Ramnarine and Dexter Chiu, were expected to recover. De Blasio said he was “not going to theorize on” possible motives for the attack.

Protests over Floyd's death were planned around the city for Thursday along with a statewide moment of silence at 2 pm to coincide with another memorial for Floyd taking place in Minneapolis.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)