JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A fundraising campaign to help people arrested during weekend protests in downtown Jacksonville reached its $40,000 goal by Monday morning.
The GoFundMe page set up Saturday for the Jacksonville Community Action Committee “to provide community support for those who’ve had their civil liberties deprived by local law enforcement.”
The committee was involved in organizing people who gathered Saturday to protest abuse of force by members of law enforcement, including the killing of George Floyd last month in Minnesota.
More than 20 people were arrested during demonstrations Saturday and Sunday that were largely peaceful but were marred by damage to police cars and downtown offices and commercial buildings.
Sheriff Mike Williams said Saturday that an officer was “slashed in the neck” during the demonstration and that other officers had been attacked by crowds, but no additional information has been released.
He said Saturday that about 1,200 people had been involved in a peaceful protest that was followed by violence that was “a completely different issue ... not an offshoot of that.” More protesting and more arrests followed Sunday, as well as a curfew that ended early Monday.
Williams spoke Saturday evening about “lots of arrests” and said his office intended to release specific information, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Jail records from early Sunday reflect arrests of 22 people for unlawful assembly as well as one for battery on a law enforcement officer or firefighter.
Jax Community Action’s relief page included a link for people to apply to receive bail money. It said money raised would also be used to support future initiatives “associated with uplifting marginalized communities.” By midday Monday, the committee reported on its Facebook page that it had helped 11 people “whose rights were infringed upon by JSO.”