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Street Spirit captures San Francisco in protest

By Kit Castagne, Street Spirit

Following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police on 25 May, a wave of protests swept across all fifty American states. The country has seen peaceful marches, and occasionally riots, in which protesters voiced their rage and grief over America’s history of police brutality, and how it led to the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sean Monterrossa, and many more. At the time of writing, the Bay Area was in its fourteenth consecutive day of protest. This collection of photos shows the initial days of action in San Francisco, from 31 May to 6 June.

Having been confined to the pedestrian walkways for most of the march, protesters spill into the roadway and halt traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A group of protesters marches down Powell Street. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Police line up in front of the Swarovski store in Union Square. The store had been looted the night before. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A man watches protesters march past from within an office building on Market Street. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A woman surveys the damage to Grace Jewelers on O’Farrell Street after looters had torn through the metal gates and robbed the store the night before. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Police officers trail a protest marching away from City Hall. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Protesters raise the American flag on the Golden Gate Bridge. [Credit: Kit Castagne] At the largest of San Francisco’s George Floyd protests to date, a dense crowd marches down 18th Street. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Protesters encircle a police car on the Golden Gate Bridge. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Police armed with rubber bullet weapons stand at the edge of a protest on Market Street. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A protester raises his fist at the San Francisco entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A police officer stands in a closed off 17th street as protesters gather around the Mission police station. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Protesters march down 16th street. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A line of police stand behind a barrier in front of protesters at the Mission police station. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A police officer rushes to communicate with fellow officers as an increasing number of protesters gather in the Golden Gate Bridge roadway. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Protesters kneel in front of a line of police in Union Square. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A broken window in Union Square. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A man with a power washer removes anti-police graffiti from Union Square’s Dewey Monument. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Police wait outside the Mission police station as the city’s curfew draws near. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A protester sits in front of police assigned to keep protesters from marching onto the Bay Bridge. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Protesters dance and march towards The Mission police station. [Credit: Kit Castagne] After news breaks that a woman in labor is stuck in the halted Golden Gate Bridge traffic, a protester with a megaphone asks marchers to unblock the road. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A protester holds a sign while standing on the Golden Gate Bridge’s median strip. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A police officer watches protesters from behind a barrier on 17th street. [Credit: Kit Castagne] The morning after widespread looting in Union Square, a worker covers the windows of Macy’s with plywood. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Broken glass and overturned mannequins inside a looted Urban Outfitters in Union Square. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Broken windows at the Union Square Louis Vuitton store. [Credit: Kit Castagne] A worker clears glass from, and installs plywood over the broken windows of Acne Studios on Geary Street. [Credit: Kit Castagne] From the roof of a building overlooking Dolores Park, police observe the growing protest gathering outside Mission High School. [Credit: Kit Castagne] Protesters kneel together and raise their fists on the Golden Gate Bridge. [Credit: Kit Castagne]

See more coverage of US anti-racism and police brutality protests captured by street papers here.