Houston protest arrests totaled more than 400 for the weekend

HOUSTON - Houston Police say they arrested more than 400 people over the weekend in connection with the George Floyd protests. The majority of those arrests took place between Friday and Saturday with just two arrests Sunday night—one for criminal mischief and one for aggravated assault of a police officer.

“They grabbed me, and they just laid me down on the floor,” said Angel Segura who was released from jail Monday after being arrested while protesting the death of George Floyd Saturday at Emancipation Park. “They just took us, and it was a peaceful protest too.”

Police say the majority of people they arrested were local Houstonians, and the most popular charge was “obstruction of a public roadway.”

“I wasn’t on the road,” said Segura, “I was on the sidewalk, and they charged me with that.”
Black Lives Matter staged outside the jail Monday, ready to provide food, water, transportation and legal help to protesters who were arrested.

BLM organizer Ashton P. Woods was there and told FOX 26 his thoughts on the weekend’s violence and vandalism.

“Four-hundred years of violence towards black lives warrants us to respond in kind,” said Woods. “I’m not going to police how people respond. That’s not my job. My job as an activist is to support those who are trying to make their voices heard.”

Black Lives Matter is also working on expediting the release of those who were arrested, including protester Arnold Yao’s friends. Although he was only held for 5 hours, he told Fox 26 that ten of his friends were still in jail as of Monday.

“They’re still in jail,” said Yao. “Some of them—I can’t find them in the system.”

Mayor Turner says 80 percent of the demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd over the weekend were peaceful.