ROANOKE, Va. – UPDATE: 11:45 P.M.
The group has disbanded for the night after a day of peaceful protest.
Roanoke demonstrators disperse late Sunday night
Posted by WSLS 10 / WSLS.com on Sunday, May 31, 2020
UPDATE: 10:05 P.M.
Roanoke protests 10p Sunday update
Posted by WSLS 10 / WSLS.com on Sunday, May 31, 2020
Here’s a look at photos taken earlier in the day during protests:
Images from protests in Roanoke on May 31, 2020
UPDATE: 8:54 P.M.
Roanoke protesters return to police department Sunday evening
Posted by WSLS 10 / WSLS.com on Sunday, May 31, 2020
UPDATE: 8:40 P.M.
Roanoke protests back in front of police station
Posted by WSLS 10 / WSLS.com on Sunday, May 31, 2020
UPDATE: 7:00 P.M.
Colter Anstaett WSLS 10 News is in downtown Roanoke where protesters are gathered in Market Square.
Posted by WSLS 10 / WSLS.com on Sunday, May 31, 2020
UPDATE 6:00 P.M.
UPDATE 5:20 P.M.
10 News reporter Taj Simmons is live where protesters are gathered in Roanoke’s Market Square:
UPDATE 4:45 p.m.
Protesters at Roanoke’s Market Square lay face down for 9 minutes during their protest in response to George Floyd’s death while in custody in Minneapolis.
UPDATE 4:30 p.m.
Protesters are moving from where they’d been gathered outside of the Roanoke City Police Department toward the City Market building. It’s not clear where they’re planning to go.
ORIGINAL STORY
Protesters are gathering in Roanoke in small numbers again on Sunday afternoon in response to George Floyd’s death while in custody in Minneapolis.
The protest was much smaller on Sunday than what 10 News observed during Saturday’s protests that lasted until early Sunday morning. 10 News reporter Colter Anstaett said protesters weren’t chanting and yelling as much as Saturday, but rather, holding signs and waving the American flag.
[Breaking down the timeline of Saturday evening’s Roanoke protests]
Some protesters on Sunday were asking to speak to Roanoke Mayor Sherman Lea and Roanoke City Police Chief Sam Roman. City leaders gave a news conference at a different location at 3 p.m.
Woman placing flowers and a positive sign on the barricade outside the police department. She is now passing out “beads for peace” to protesters. @wsls pic.twitter.com/U98mN3Nf8q
— Colter Anstaett (@ColterAnstaett) May 31, 2020
Police were seen putting up barricades near the police station in downtown Roanoke just before 1 p.m.
This comes after two different groups protested in Roanoke on Saturday.
One started at 3 p.m. in Washington Park and remained peaceful.
The other protest ended in downtown Roanoke near the police station after someone threw a firework at a group of officers and law enforcement officials. This protest started at around 7 p.m. at the Valley View Walmart, also making stops at Target nearby, the Burlington on Hershberger Road and the Sheetz across from the Berglund Center.
Roanoke police said they made approximately six arrests as a result of the protests.