Phoenix protests end peacefully before curfew starts

Protests continue across the Valley before nightly curfew went into effect

Phoenix police said there were no arrests as one crowd marched in the heart of downtown and another gathered at the state Capitol about a mile to the west. 

PHOENIX - Thousands of people participated in peaceful protests in Phoenix Tuesday night against the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police.

Phoenix police said there were no arrests as one crowd marched in the heart of downtown and another gathered at the state Capitol about a mile to the west.

The protests ended early in the evening, with most participants leaving by the 8 p.m. start of a statewide curfew ordered Sunday by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.

Tuesday was the sixth consecutive night with protests in Phoenix but there were no reported arrests in Phoenix for the second straight night.

That was in contrast to previous nights that included numerous arrests and damage to numerous buildings in downtown Phoenix and at an upscale mall in Scottsdale. Police arrested 200 people in Phoenix on Sunday.

Some of the metro Phoenix protests partly focused on the May 25 fatal shooting of a 28-year-old black man, Dion Johnson, by an Arizona state trooper during an encounter on a Phoenix freeway.

"The trooper observed a male passed out in the driver's seat. During the trooper's contact with the suspect, there was a struggle and the trooper fired his service weapon striking the suspect," the Arizona Department of Public Safety said in a statement.

The Phoenix Police Department will be conducting the shooting investigation. The Department of Public Safety will be conducting the administrative investigation of the 15-year trooper.