KANSAS. CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, police arrested 151 people in connection with three days of protests over the weekend near the Country Club Plaza.
According to information KCPD released Monday afternoon, five people were arrested in connection with Friday’s mostly peaceful protests.
There were 83 people arrested Saturday and 63 arrested Sunday.
The three days of protests, which are aimed are creating police and criminal justice reform in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police last week, drew crowds as large as an estimated 2,000 people at times during the weekend.
A few protesters threw rocks or frozen water bottles at officers, who responded by using pepper spray on individual protesters and later tear gas canisters to try and keep protesters out of the streets.
During a march from the Plaza to Westport late Friday night, there were reports from KCPD of broken windows in the bar district.
Multiple businesses on the Plaza were damaged, mostly by sometimes profane graffiti and broken windows, and looted as Saturday’s protest continued into the night.
Police again used tear gas on crowds near the Plaza during Sunday’s protest, which was again marked by some rock and water-bottle throwing from protesters.
KCPD said 12 of the people arrested were from “out of town,” which police define as a more than 30-minute drive from Kansas City.
The department also said a patrol car was burned and 20 officers suffered “injuries requiring them to come off the line” during the three days of protests.
All were related to being struck by flying objects.
Most injuries were minor, but two officers Saturday had to be taken to the hospital — one for a head injury and one for a lacerated liver.
The first officer was treated and released that night, while the officer with the liver injury is expected to be released Monday from the hospital, KCPD Sgt. Jake Becchina said in an email to media outlets.
Four people were charged Monday in Jackson County for stealing in connection with Saturday’s vandalism on the Plaza.
A 41 Action News vehicle was burned Sunday by protesters, but KCPD said estimates for all the damage “will take some time to compile and will likely not be available for a long period of time.”
