At least six people were arrested Thursday night in San Bernardino after rocks and bottles were thrown and officers and pedestrians were attacked in a protest against the George Zimmerman trial verdict.

The incident began about 8 p.m. as marchers moved south along Highland Avenue and were joined by others not initially involved with what was a peaceful protest at that point, according to police.

Protesters ended up at a Jack in the Box restaurant near Waterman Avenue and Baseline Street and began hurling rocks and bottles at passing vehicles and officers who arrived at the scene, said Lt. Mike Madden of the San Bernardino Police Department.

“They just saw the opportunity for civil unrest,” Madden told the Los Angeles Times.


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Officers gave orders to disperse. At that point, groups of people took off running and began attacking and robbing pedestrians, according to police.

Two of the six people arrested were taken into custody on suspicion of strong-arm robbery, Madden said.

Police late Thursday were still monitoring roving groups of people in the streets.


“It’s been a relatively active evening,” Madden said.

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