FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 4, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 15
protest
injustice going on in this country. It’s
been going on for a long time,” Gianaris
said. “We’re seeing a lot of it going on in
just the last couple of weeks.”
Gianaris said he and his colleagues have
to start making policy changes both at the
city and the state level.
“Hopefully we’ll take that on and do
that shortly,” he said.
Th e senator also called on the NYPD to
“be better” aft er the department has come
under fi re for their actions in Brooklyn
on Friday.
“You saw what happened Friday night,
they were too quick to turn to aggressive
and violent actions — opening their
doors and knocking people over, pushing
women down on the fl oor. Th ey have to
get a lot better,” Gianaris said.
By 6:05 p.m., the crowd had started to
disperse before the protest ended around
7:30 p.m.
Police could not immediately comment
on how many arrests — if any — were
made during the protest.
“Th ere’s protests everywhere in the city,”
a spokesperson said.
And they didn’t stop on Saturday.
One day aft er the mostly peaceful protest
in Jackson Heights, demonstrators
marched down the streets of Jamaica.
One demonstrator, Aleeia Abraham,
posted a video on Facebook showing
police offi cers kneeling in solidarity with
protesters, many of whom could be heard
cheering and thanking the offi cers for
their show of support.
One of the offi cers shown kneeling in
the video is Deputy Inspector Vincent
Tavalaro, the commanding offi cer of the
103rd Precinct in Jamaica.
NYPD
Commissioner
Dermot
Shea also
praised
the
moment of solidarity on Twitter.
“We need more of this, to see and hear
each other, to work together, to recognize
that our diff erences are our strength,”
Shea said.
Th e demonstration in Jamaica, the protest
in Jackson Heights on Saturday and a separate
protest at Flushing Meadows Corona
Park Sunday evening did not escalate the
way demonstrations had in Brooklyn and
Manhattan over the weekend.
Th e trend continued into Monday,
when hundreds of people attended a protest
in Astoria Park to honor Floyd’s
memory. Th e protest later turned into a
vigil and remained peaceful throughout.
Th e gathering began around 7 p.m.,
four hours before the curfew created by
Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio
earlier in the day. Th e curfew was intended
to prevent the looting, vandalism and
fi res seen during protests in Brooklyn
and Manhattan during the four previous
nights.
And while the damage was controlled
a little more than it had been in previous
days in Manhattan and Brooklyn, Queens
saw its fi rst looting scare.
On Monday aft ernoon, traffi c was
delayed near Queens Center Mall due to
the presence of emergency personnel in
response to reported looting.
Video that surfaced on social media
Monday aft ernoon showed a group of
people running around the mall attempting
to kick through boarded up windows.
Th e situation did not appear to be a
protest related to Floyd’s death and the
continuation of police violence against
black men and women across the country,
but rather a previously planned “loot
out” that had allegedly been scheduled to
begin at the mall, located at 90-15 Queens
Blvd., around 1 p.m., according to a notice
obtained by QNS.
An NYPD spokesperson confi rmed with
QNS that the 110th Precinct had received
several calls regarding the situation and had
sent offi cers to the area, but could not off er
confi rmation of any violence, vandalism or
arrests made at the scene.
Another video surfaced on Twitter that
has since been deleted showed police
vehicles following a group of people who
seemed to be running away from the mall.
Councilman Robert Holden later said
that he had spoken with the commanding
offi cer of the 110th Precinct, who told him
that there was no looting of the Queens
Center Mall.
Protests continued in Astoria and
Bayside on Tuesday, June 2.
In Astoria, hundreds of people marched
from Steinway Street and 30th Avenue to
Astoria Boulevard, stopping in front of
the 114th Precinct.
In Bayside, protesters marched down
Northern Boulevard towards the 111th
Precinct.
Upon arriving at the 111th Precinct,
the group took a knee and held a second
moment of silence. Following the
moment of silence, speeches were given
in support of justice for Black Americans,
before the march continued on.
With protests expected to carry on
throughout the week, Mayor de Blasio
announced an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew to
be enforced every night this week.
Photo by Dean Moses
The protest in Jackson Heights remained peaceful.
Photo by Dean Moses
Photo by Dean Moses
Protesters hold a peaceful candlelight vigil in Astoria Park.
Courtesy of Twitter/@NYPDQueensSouth
Police offi cers kneel with protesters in Jamaica.
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