NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2014 Nearly 50 people were arrested over the weekend in Tennessee, while many businesses saw property damaged and public buildings vandalized across the state during peaceful protests that turned violent in response to the death of George Floyd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Volunteers continued cleanup efforts, scrubbing away graffiti and removing the debris of two days of protests. The demonstrations, like others nationwide, erupted after the death of George Floyd, a black man in handcuffs who pleaded for air as a white officer in Minnesota pressed a knee into his neck last week. They continued Monday evening with a peaceful protest outside the state Capitol in Nashville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside the GOP-dominant Statehouse, black Democratic lawmakers spoke out against the violence, but also asked their Republican colleagues to not focus solely on the vandalism. Instead, they pleaded with their fellow members to understand what sparked the anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to walk around angry and in a controlled rage every day, but I want you to understand that if you dismiss their anger and avoid a solution, it will happen again,\u201d said Rep. Vincent Dixie of Nashville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday evening, more than 60 National Guard troops at the state Capitol put down their riot shields at the request of peaceful protesters. Guardsmen had initially rushed to grab their shields and form a hard line to block the slowly moving crowd \u2014 who were singing and chanting \u2014 from advancing up the Capitol steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the crowd remained calm, and Democratic lawmakers leaving the Capitol asked to be able to move past the line of guards to join the crowd. As the crowd continued to sing and call for justice for black Americans, slowly the shields began to drop even as Tennessee state troopers with batons in hand backed away.<\/p>\n\n\n\t