Following the murder of George Floyd, protests and riots have been taking place all around the country.
On May 25 an African-American man named George Floyd was suffocated to death by a police officer while other officers stood by and watched, as his last words were, “I can’t breathe.”
Since the fatal incident, many people have been inclined to talk about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Many have been educating themselves more on what the meaning behind this movement truly is, along with educating themselves on their own privilege and what that means as well.
Stefania Tibor, a member of the L.A. community, attended a protest in the area and had a lot to share about her experience.
“We had support from every business we passed; employees and owners were cheering, busses and cars passing were honking and raising posters [and] fists to unite with us, everything was great at first,” Tibor said.
She then began to speak about how the protest got out of hand and some of the horrible things she witnessed first hand, with fear taking over the protest.
Another L.A. local, Maddie Monteilh stated the protest she attended remained peaceful the entire time.
“There was no rioting or violence, it all stayed peaceful,” Monteilh said.
The peaceful protests have been supported by many, but where the line seems to gets hazy and the confusion begins is rioting.
In certain cases, rioting has not been done by the same peaceful protestors.
Rioters have come from out of the L.A. area and have taken advantage of the situation, eliminating the focus from the Black Lives Matter movement.
L.A. County is now experiencing its third night of mandatory curfew, just as the county had started opening up after months of lockdown due to the coronavirus.
Curfew has made the protestors upset because they feel as if their right to protest is being taken away from them.