Thread by @Brian_Rokos

Quite a number of businesses are boarded up in advance of the 4 p.m. George Floyd protest in front of the library at 3581 Mission Inn Ave. in Riverside.

Many streets are blocked off, as are public parking garages.

We are a half hour from the official start of the protest, and already there are hundreds in front of the Riverside Public Library.

There are no uniformed police officers at the protest that I can see. That’s pretty typical of the way Riverside police handle these. But lots of police have massed nearby.

Protesters are in the street a little bit. Now and again an organizer tries to shoo them back on to the sidewalk. Loud but calm.

Someone is leading the crowd in various chants, including Black Lives, They Matter Here and Black Lives Matter.

Jessica Brown, 25, of Cypress, held a sign saying We Want Equal Sentencing!!! It’s the first of those I’ve seen. “I’ve noticed over the past few years that if you kill someone black, you get substantially less time than if you kill someone white. It’s been painful for me to see.”

Protesters brought water and snacks

Someone is speaking into a bullhorn in front of the library. But there are so many people here, I can’t get close enough to hear him. But he’s getting a lot of applause.

“It’s our duty to fight for freedom,” the crowd shouts, prompted by a speaker.

There are people of all races here.

A congressman is speaking. Hopefully someone can help me out with his name.

And the congressman is Mark Takano. He got the protesters to shout: “Protest vote.”

A plane just flew by pulling a banner that says We Love The Police.

The protesters are now marching west on Mission Inn Avenue

Mission Inn Ave, which is open to vehicle traffic, is now full of protesters.

Protesters now headed north on Market Street.

The Fox Riverside is one of the buildings boarded up. I have not seen anyone try to break into any place.

Protesters now eastbound on Sixth Street. Some are directing traffic.

Riverside police rolling through

Proabition is boarded up and guarded with some muscle.

Some protesters have returned to the library grounds, while others are marching south on Orange Street.

This man, holding a rose, is saying “I love y’all.”

Marchers on Orange Street have stopped at Tenth Street, where the road is closed by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies.

This is in front of Robert Presley Detention Center and the District Attorney’s Office. Riverside police ring the lobby of the DA’s Office.

As marchers take a knee, a protester shouts over a bullhorn, “We will be heard.”

This is a sentiment that has been expressed many times today.

We are 26 minutes from the 6 p.m. county curfew.

Sheriff Chad Bianco is here at the police line on Orange and Tenth.

Kelleigh Fielder, an Arlington High senior at right, holds a sign with her family. “Silence is just letting it happen. Neutral is the oppressor,” she said.

There have been a number of heart-to-heart conversations between protesters and police. We are five minutes from the 6 p.m. curfew.

A Riverside police Officer just pointed to his watch while speaking with Sheriff Chad Bianco. Bianco seemed to smile about the passage of the curfew.

Bianco just told me “I’m not looking at my watch.” So it looks like the officers will not immediately be ordering the protesters to leave.

Interesting exchange between protesters just now. One has a sign with BLM initials and a drawing of a pig that she was holding next to the police line. “You’re stopping low instead of high,” another protester admonished the sign holder.

Other protesters are admonishing each other “to stay peaceful” so they don’t get shooed away by officers now that the curfew deadline has passed. I have not seen any vandalism or assaults or arrests.

A good number of protesters are meandering away from Orange and Tenth.

Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez keeping watch on the protest.

Chief Larry Gonzalez just told me that 30-40 people broke into the CVS on Market Street. He doesn’t know yet whether anything was stolen or whether anyone was arrested.

Gonzalez also told me that as long as protesters remain peaceful, there’s no rush to disperse them even though the 6 pm curfew has passed. A protester came up to me and urged me to report what I have already - that this rally has been peaceful. Very passionate and loud, for sure.

The most unusual sign I’ve seen today.

I meant to write “stooping low” instead of “stopping low.”

A protester waves to deputies stationed on top of Robert Presley Detention Center.

Someone just shot off some firecrackers. The crowd seemed to immediately know it wasn’t gunfire.

Jose Zaragoza, 21, of Riverside, left, spoke emotionally to a deputy as protesters and officers stood mere feet apart at Orange and Tenth streets. He said his message was “God is with them as well. To me, God is first in my life. When God is with people, they are less fearful.”

Zaragoza said he hoped protesters there would set an example. “If we stay peaceful, people here in this county, we could be a representative to our city and our state and our country. We are now in the midst of chaos. When we protest, we need to protest for peace,” he said.

It’s 7 pm, an hour past the county curfew. The protest continues. Sometimes loudly, sometimes not.

At 7:05 pm, police declared the protest an unlawful assembly and threatened arrests if the crowd does not disperse.

Despite the dispersal order, few people appear to be leaving. Instead they have begun rhythmic clapping.

Follow SCNG photographer Will Lester on Twitter at @WillLesterPhoto for coverage of the Riverside protest of George Floyd’s slaying and concerns about police brutality.

Officers surged forward at Orange and Tenth, prompting the crowd to retreat. Some then threw water bottles at officers.

Another surge.

Police have pushed protesters back to Orange and Ninth.

There was an arrest.

Police lost patience when they started setting off M-80 type explosives. One just blew up on a Riverside police armored vehicle.

Police and armored vehicles are pushing protesters back. I’m hearing a rat-a-tat-tat but I don’t know where that’s coming from.

I’m seeing some more arrests.

This is serious stuff.

Protesters now pushed back to Orange and University. Still hearing large firecrackers or other explosives going off.

Protesters have been pushed back to Orange and Mission Inn. University and Orange is blocked off. Best to stay out of the area.

Protesters have been pushed back to at least Sixth Street. I’m now too far back to see them. I’m not hearing any more explosions. A thought: Who brings explosives to what’s supposed to be a peaceful protest?

Sheriff Chad Bianco told me he got hit by a thrown screwdriver. He’s ok. He said officers have fired pepper balls and rubber bullets at protesters. He, too, was perplexed that people would bring explosives to a what is supposed to be a peaceful protest.

Bianco said the crowd is thinning but is still assembled. It looks like they are at Sixth Street.

A sheriff’s SUV just served with a supply of pepper balls. They look like candy, small jawbreakers. I’ll pass.

Officers had let me hang behind their skirmish line but now they keep moving me this way and that. I’m far back now and can’t really see anything.

A sheriff’s deputy just told me that the remainder of the protesters, for the most part, has dispersed. There is one very small “hot group” in the south of downtown that Riverside police are handling. It’s not over, but it seems close. Police are “regrouping,” the deputy said.

People seem to be walking freely through downtown Riverside.

Here’s a look inside the CVS on Market Street that was broken into.

I don’t know whether anything was taken. This purse was found outside the store. A crew was boarding up the store about 9:30 p.m.

An officer told me that people store arms full of merchandise from CVS. A lot of medication and alcohol.