On May 30, protestors including myself began peacefully standing in the street at Main and Clinton around 5 pm, letting cars pass slowly in one lane (most of them indicating their support for the protestors). A line of riot police and armoured cars soon arrived from the north on Clinton, an unnecessary, disproportionate, and provocative response. I did not hear any warning before tear gas was fired, but I retreated quickly enough to manage to avoid direct exposure. Many others were not so lucky; a man ran up to me, with red eyes and clearly in pain, and borrowed my water bottle in order to flush out his eyes. I witnessed many others hit by the gas. The police advanced west to the Main and Calhoun intersection. A few cars were still travelling east on Main to the intersection, and the protestors had to warn these bystanders to roll up their windows so that they wouldn’t also be hit with the gas. For at least a week afterwards I was greatly stressed and had trouble sleeping.
Community-submitted accounts of police brutality during the 2020 George Floyd protests in Fort Wayne, Indiana.