Friday, March 24, 2023
Subscriber Login
My Profile
SpotlightNews
  • Home
  • News
    • Election 2022
    • Business
      • Spotlight On Business
      • Spotlight on Finance
    • Crime and Police
    • Discover-Towns
      • Discover Coeymans Selkirk and Feura Bush
      • Discover Delmar
      • Discover Glenmont
      • Discover Guilderland
      • Discover Latham and Boght
      • Discover Loudonville
      • Discover Menands
      • Discover Slingerlands
      • Discover Village of Colonie
      • Discover Voorheesville and New Scotland
    • Fire Departments
    • Government
    • Milestones
    • Schools
    • Sports
    • Obituaries
  • The Spot 518
    • Galleries
    • Art
    • Food and Recipes
    • Health & Fitness
    • Music
    • Theatre
  • Hot Spots Calendar
    • Calendar Listings
    • Submit Your Event
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Our Opinion
    • Point of View
    • Your Opinion
  • Family Now
    • Parenting News
    • Senior News
  • Towns
    • Albany County
    • Bethlehem
    • Colonie
    • Guilderland
    • New Scotland
  • Classifieds
    • Employment – Hire Power
    • Services In the Spotlight
    • Classified Listings
    • Advertiser Login
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriber login
    • Give the gift of news
    • Join us – subscribe today
    • Newsletter sign up
    • Renew Subscription
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Election 2022
    • Business
      • Spotlight On Business
      • Spotlight on Finance
    • Crime and Police
    • Discover-Towns
      • Discover Coeymans Selkirk and Feura Bush
      • Discover Delmar
      • Discover Glenmont
      • Discover Guilderland
      • Discover Latham and Boght
      • Discover Loudonville
      • Discover Menands
      • Discover Slingerlands
      • Discover Village of Colonie
      • Discover Voorheesville and New Scotland
    • Fire Departments
    • Government
    • Milestones
    • Schools
    • Sports
    • Obituaries
  • The Spot 518
    • Galleries
    • Art
    • Food and Recipes
    • Health & Fitness
    • Music
    • Theatre
  • Hot Spots Calendar
    • Calendar Listings
    • Submit Your Event
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Our Opinion
    • Point of View
    • Your Opinion
  • Family Now
    • Parenting News
    • Senior News
  • Towns
    • Albany County
    • Bethlehem
    • Colonie
    • Guilderland
    • New Scotland
  • Classifieds
    • Employment – Hire Power
    • Services In the Spotlight
    • Classified Listings
    • Advertiser Login
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriber login
    • Give the gift of news
    • Join us – subscribe today
    • Newsletter sign up
    • Renew Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Spotlight News
No Result
View All Result
Home News Community

A protest, a riot and then the cleanup (w/photo gallery)

Jim Franco by Jim Franco
June 1, 2020
in Community, Crime and Police, News
Reading Time: 3 mins read

ALBANY — Five hours following a peaceful protest, violence ripped through the Capitol City and spilled into the suburbs.

“It was the closest I have felt to being in a war zone since Iraq,” said County Executive Dan McCoy, who used four fire extinguishers to put out a fire at the Probation Department on Pearl Street because the chaos prevented the Fire Department from accessing the building.

And the community, already reeling from COVID-19, was left to pick up the pieces after dozens of rioters did hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to municipal buildings and private businesses, setting fires and looting stores as they rampaged through the south end of Albany and spilling into the suburbs.

Molotov cocktails were thrown at the mounted patrol at the South Station, and officers were pelted with bricks, rocks, garbage and were shot at with roman candles and other fire works. They showed amazing restraint. A tractor trailer was set on fire on Pearl Street at around 10 p.m. The county Probation Department was set on fire sometime through the night and at around 3 a.m. a car burned itself out on Central Avenue. Similar riots took place at cities across the country.

Colonie Center was broken into, a video was circulated on social media but the perpetrators apparently fled the scene before police arrived. Guilderland police and deputies from the Albany County Sheriff’s Department had all the entrances to Crossgates Mall blocked off and at around midnight a number of cars were circling the closed mall, some taunting police as they drove by.

The State Police and officers from Bethlehem, Colonie, Rensselaer, Watervliet and Guilderland police departments all responded to help thwart the violence. But, as soon as one area seemed to calm, something would happen in another part of the Capital District.

The violence overshadowed what began as a peaceful protest to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis. Thousands came to Townsend Park in Albany to participate in the two-mile run/walk organized by Citizens Action and other community groups.

“What went on in Minneapolis should not have happened. What that officer did was nefarious and criminal and he will have his day in court,” said Sheriff Craig Apple. “But I don’t want the public to paint all law enforcement officers with the same brush. We are not like that here. We have worked hard to make strides in the community. To build bridges. And this set us back years.”

He, McCoy and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan praised the Albany protesters at the afternoon gathering for standing up and having their voices heard in a peaceful, yet forceful, manner. All the while adhering to social distancing protocols and wearing masks. Sadly, the sheriff said, the memory most people will take away from the day is what happened after the sun went down and not of George Floyd.

McCoy said the Health Department, Probation Department and Board of Elections all suffered substantial damage.

“What happened at South Station was not a protest It was a riot,” Sheehan said. “I cannot see a connection over the anger of the killing of George Floyd and throwing a brick through a public library window. I don’t see the connection with being angry with police and throwing a brick threw a window of a black owned business and stealing everything inside. That is not protest. I don’t see any connection because I don’t see how anyone trying to build a better future for themselves and their community would ever think those activities would lead to peace and empowerment.”

A 21-year-old Delmar man, James Vail was arrested Sunday for throwing a brick at a police officer, causing a concussion.

Apple said he has been flooded with tips about the identity of other participants.

“I am especially grateful to the young man who threw rocks through the window at Colonie Center for posted a video of it,” Apple said.

McCoy said video tapes are being reviewed.

Sheehan said a number of the rioters were clearly not from the neighborhood they terrorized, or even from Albany.

“Violence was from the people not from our community, who don’t know our police department and who have never worked with our Police Department,” she said. They were people we never met or have never interacted with our Police Department throwing bricks at our police officers, literally.”

protest-cleanup-9820
protest-cleanup-2-27
protest-cleanup-8145
protest-cleanup-2-26
protest-cleanup-1654
protest-cleanup-2-29
protest-cleanup-2-25
protest-cleanup-9814
protest-cleanup-3375
protest-cleanup-2-24
protest-cleanup-3533
protest-cleanup-2-13
protest-cleanup-9209
protest-cleanup-9268
protest-cleanup-1982
protest-cleanup-2-30
protest-cleanup-0614
protest-cleanup-2-4
protest-cleanup-3211
protest-cleanup-2951
protest-cleanup-7734
protest-cleanup-2377
protest-cleanup-2965
protest-cleanup-9327
protest-cleanup-2921
protest-cleanup-2783
protest-cleanup-3119
protest-cleanup-3164
protest-cleanup-2851
protest-cleanup-1053
protest-cleanup-8454
protest-cleanup-3382
protest-cleanup-1865
protest-cleanup-3111
protest-cleanup-2-2
protest-cleanup-3428
protest-cleanup-2780
protest-cleanup-1899
protest-cleanup-3229
protest-cleanup-2451
protest-cleanup-8614
protest-cleanup-2211
protest-cleanup-0736
protest-cleanup-0401
protest-cleanup-2-3
protest-cleanup-0446
protest-cleanup-2-31
protest-cleanup-0912
protest-cleanup-2224
protest-cleanup-2994
protest-cleanup-2-8
protest-cleanup-9925
protest-cleanup-8818
protest-cleanup-8100
protest-cleanup-2101
protest-cleanup-3171
protest-cleanup-2881
protest-cleanup-2-11
protest-cleanup-2-21
protest-cleanup-2031
protest-cleanup-2-17
protest-cleanup-2401
protest-cleanup-3520
protest-cleanup-2-5
protest-cleanup-2-9
protest-cleanup-2706
protest-cleanup-2781
protest-cleanup-2-20
protest-cleanup-2-34
A pedestrian walks by the CVS store on Central Avenue in Albany on Sunday, May 31 (Jim Franco/Spotlight News)
A pedestrian walks by the CVS store on Central Avenue in Albany on Sunday, May 31 (Jim Franco/Spotlight News)
protest-cleanup-2-14
protest-cleanup-1963
protest-cleanup-0871
protest-cleanup-2-16
protest-cleanup-8399
protest-cleanup-8962
053120_justicemarch
protest-cleanup-7688
protest-cleanup-1947
protest-cleanup-3246
protest-cleanup-9798
protest-cleanup-3073
protest-cleanup-2-23
protest-cleanup-2185
protest-cleanup-2-32
protest-cleanup-9169
protest-cleanup-8045
protest-cleanup-0373
protest-cleanup-2-18
protest-cleanup-0574
protest-cleanup-2-22
protest-cleanup-9897
protest-cleanup-8717
protest-cleanup-2-15
protest-cleanup-2489
protest-cleanup-0658
protest-cleanup-0769
protest-cleanup-2-12
protest-cleanup-3185
protest-cleanup-1518
protest-cleanup-3223
protest-cleanup-2907
protest-cleanup-9162
053120_justicemarch
Tags: albanyAlbany County Executive Dan McCoyAlbany County Sheriff Craig AppleAlbany Mayor Kathy Sheehan
ShareTweetShareShare
Previous Post

Delmar man arrested for throwing a brick at police officer during Saturday’s riot

Next Post

Capital District poised to enter Phase II Wednesday

Leave Comment

Stay Connected with Us

Recent News

Voorheesville Public Library news: Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon

March 23, 2023

Guilderland Public Library news: The Music of Burt Bacharach

March 23, 2023

Bethlehem Public Library news: Go on a library expedition

March 23, 2023

OBITUARY: Jane Ellen Streiff Spelich of Delmar

March 23, 2023

Hot Stories This Week

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

Colonie Area Weekly Police Blotter March 8th – March 15th

March 19, 2023

Bethlehem Area Weekly Police Blotter March 8th – March 15th

March 18, 2023

Hamlet’s first family’s home up for sale

March 22, 2023

Colonie Area Weekly Police Blotter March 1st – March 8th

March 12, 2023

Voorheesville Public Library news: Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon

March 23, 2023

Guilderland Public Library news: The Music of Burt Bacharach

March 23, 2023

Bethlehem Public Library news: Go on a library expedition

March 23, 2023

OBITUARY: Jane Ellen Streiff Spelich of Delmar

March 23, 2023
Spotlight News

Spotlight News, The Spot 518 and Capital District Family Now are divisions of Community Media Group, LLC. Our local offices are located at 341 Delaware Ave, Delmar, NY 12054. You can contact us at 518.439.4949.

Browse

Follow Us

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact the Editor
  • Employment
  • Our Team
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Legal Notices Portal

© 2022 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 518.439.4949

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Election 2022
  • News
    • Crime and Police
    • Fire Departments
    • Milestones
    • Real Estate and Housing
    • Schools
    • Sports
    • Spotlight On Business
    • Spotlight on Finance
  • The Spot 518
    • Galleries
    • Art
    • Theatre
    • Music
    • Food and Drink
    • Health & Fitness
  • Hot Spots Calendar
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Opinion
  • Classifieds
    • Advertiser Login
    • Service Directory
    • Hire Power – Employer Spotlight
  • Capital District Family Now
    • Parenting News
    • Senior News
  • Towns
    • Albany County
    • Bethlehem
    • Colonie
    • Guilderland
  • Log In
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 518.439.4949