Thousands of demonstrators gathered in downtown Raleigh this evening as part of a nationwide protest of police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a white cop in Minneapolis on Monday.

For the first few hours, the protest was relatively quiet and peaceful. By about 9:00 p.m., however, things had taken a turn. About 50 protesters began busting windows at the Wake County Public Safety Center. The Raleigh Police responded with tear gas. 

INDY reporter Leigh Tauss—who just got tear-gassed—and Triad City Beat reporter Jordan Green are on the scene. To get the play-by-play of how the day progressed, check out Leigh’s Twitter feed. 

This is a developing story. 

Update 9:25: A group of guys just smashed up the Jimmy John’s. 

Update 9:42: 

And a flag burning:

Update 9:45: Almost every building on Fayetteville Street has been smashed, Tauss reports. 

Update 9:52: Flag burning failed; flag used for other purposes. 

Update 10:07: Fire started at the CVS, Jordan reports. 

Update 10:15: They smashed the INDY’s Raleigh office (while Leigh was inside getting water).

Final update 10:35: Leigh and Jordan have managed to get out of downtown. There are small bands of rioters roaming around smashing things, Jordan says. He believes they are organic and local, not outsiders or infiltrators. We’ll have more tomorrow and in this week’s paper. 

From earlier this evening:

In case you’re wondering how things went south: 

Contact Raleigh news editor Leigh Tauss at [email protected]. 

DEAR READERS, WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW MORE THAN EVER. Support independent local journalism by joining the INDY Press Club today. Your contributions will keep our fearless watchdog reporting and essential arts and culture coverage viable in the Triangle, coronavirus be damned.