Riot in Grand Rapids Caused About $450K in Damages

A couple weekends ago after peaceful protesters marched to stand up for Black Lives Matter in Downtown Grand Rapids, some people took advantage of the situation by causing destruction to the city after the protest.

FOX17 reports that the City Accessor has estimated damages total $448,000, including private and public property. This is just a preliminary estimate meaning the amount is still expected to be higher because it does not include items that were stolen from businesses.

During the riots, windows of businesses were smashed which caused looting, vehicles were set on fire including seven police squad cars, dumpsters were set on fire, and graffiti covered some buildings.

According to MLive, as of June 5th, an eighth person had been arrested and charged with having involvement in the riot.

After the riot, GRPD set up a portal for people to submit photos and videos that can help identify rioters. After getting 20,000 submissions they took it down so they can focus on the next steps of their investigation.

Since that Saturday, several peaceful protests have taken place in Grand Rapids. Last week, Chief Payne and Kent County's Sheriff both took a knee with protestors.