UK: Protest leads to vandalism, arrests in Birmingham

Demonstrators smashed windows, set fires and tried to topple a Confederate monument in downtown Birmingham on Sunday night as unrest erupted around the country after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

The evening began with a peaceful afternoon rally at Kelly Ingram Park but ended with the vandalism of more than two dozen buildings and businesses.

Birmingham police reported that more than two dozen businesses had been looted or damaged.

Twenty-four people were arrested.

Demonstrators tied a rope and tried to pull down a 54-foot tall Confederate monument in downtown Birmingham's Linn Park.

Protesters took spray paint and hammers to obscure the inscriptions on the towering monument.

A statue of Charles Linn, an industrialist who fought for the Confederacy, was pulled to the ground.

Johnny Grimes, owner of Wheelhouse Salon in Birmingham, cleaned up smashed windows and computers Monday morning.

The salon had just been cleared to reopen after being shut down for two months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We're devastated. We're frustrated, but we understand. We understand the frustration that the African American community is experiencing.  We sympathize with them and share in that frustration", Grimes said.

Protests have erupted around the country to protest what happened to Floyd, an African American man, on May 25.

Floyd was on the ground and handcuffed when a white police officer put his knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes.

(Representative Image)(Image Credit Pixabay)