Orlando, Fla. — Thousands of people gathered in the streets near Orlando City Hall Tuesday afternoon to protest the death of George Floyd and police brutality.
South Street and Orange Avenue were closed as more than 2,000 people marched from the front of City Hall past Exploria Stadium towards the Orlando Police department.
Crowd on the move again. A lot of people flooding on to OBT which has been shut down near police headquarters. #WFTV #BlackOutDay2020 #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/tDi3OP4ImO
— Jeff Deal (@JDealWFTV) June 2, 2020
At 4:30 p.m. OPD said the crowd of protesters had grown to more than 2,000 people. By 5 p.m. the the demonstration impacted travel along State Road 408 causing major traffic tie ups for the afternoon rush hour.
UPDATE: Several large groups of demonstrators are on the move in multiple locations downtown and at Orlando Police Headquarters.
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) June 2, 2020
❌Roads downtown are impacted. Please expect delays.
❌Lymmo has temporarily shut down the Grapefruit and Lime lines pic.twitter.com/Qwu01nZ2Ji
Despite a 10 p.m. curfew, a group of protesters remained downtown. Police then deployed smoke canisters and or tear gas on the protesters around 10: 15 p.m.
Statement on tonight's demonstrations. pic.twitter.com/OMNMvboKho
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) June 3, 2020