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Rioters In Rochester, New York Descend On Restaurant, Cause Patrons To Run Away

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Shelby Talcott Senior White House Correspondent
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Rioters in Rochester, New York descended on a restaurant as outdoor patrons ran away Friday following recently released body camera footage showing the March arrest of a black man who later died.

Daniel Prude died from “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint” one week after police officers arrested him in March. PCP also contributed to his death, according to the Associated Press. Body-camera footage released by family shows officers putting a spit hood, which is meant to keep them from contacting another person’s saliva, over Prude’s face.

One officer also knelt on Prude’s back, according to body camera footage. He stopped moving after approximately two minutes and officers performed CPR on Prude, who was then taken to the hospital and died on March 30 from brain damage. (RELATED: A Car Drove Through A Group Of Black Lives Matter Protesters In Times Square, No Injuries Reported)

Protesters came out en masse in Rochester following the released footage. On Friday evening, protests that were reportedly peaceful earlier in the day became violent and police officers deployed crowd control munitions and declared an unlawful assembly, according to Fox News.

In one video tweeted by “@ScooterCasterNY,” an NYC multimedia journalist, rioters are seen surrounding a restaurant where patrons are dining outside. Some yell at the patrons as others take over the front porch dining area. As the situation escalates, video shows the people dining appearing to become scared as they quickly get up and run away.

“There’s no need to run, nobody’s hurting them! We’re shutting the parties down!” one person screams as others yell “Black Lives Matter.”

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Rioters continued to surround the restaurant and began throwing chairs, the video shows. One person is then seen walking up to a group mid-dinner and breaking the glasses on their table. More patrons continue to leave as the situation escalates and rioters are seen further surrounding the establishment.

The unlawful assembly was declared as rioters vandalized property, set fires and began throwing things at police, according to Fox News and videos from the scene. In New York City, protests also became violent and multiple people were arrested, Fox News reported.

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Rochester and NYC’s protests and rioting comes as America has seen continued unrest across the country following the death of George Floyd in May. Riots have occurred in cities such as Kenosha, Portland, Seattle, and other cities.