Tampa Police To Discern If Outside Agitators Instigated Violence

TAMPA, FL — More than 20 people were arrested late Sunday afternoon and into the night during a second round of weekend protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis Police officer.

Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said 21 people from Hillsborough and Pinellas counties were arrested Sunday on charges including burglary, battery, disorderly conduct and violating the curfew.

Dugan said police used nonlethal methods to control the crowd but didn't elaborate on the methods uses. Eyewitnesses said they saw police using tear gas and rubber bullets.

No one was injured but three police vehicles were damaged and the Hope's Food Store at 4002 N. 22nd St. in east Tampa was broken into.

Although Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis deployed about 100 members of the Florida National Guard to Tampa at the request of Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, no members of the guard engaged the public. Castor said members were stationed at select government buildings as a deterrent. She said the Florida National Guard has since been relieved.

Sunday night's civil unrest came on the heels of a night of looting, burning buildings and lobbing rocks, bottles and setting off fireworks toward law enforcement officers Saturday night in the area of Busch Boulevard and north 30th Street near University Square Mall.

Tampa Police arrested 42 people and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office arrested seven people Saturday night.

In response to the violence, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor instituted a citywide curfew from 7:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday night, noting that violating the curfew could result in up to one year in prison and/or a $1,000 fine. On Monday, she extended the curfew through Monday night into Tuesday morning "out of an abundance of caution."

"I apologize, as I did yesterday, for any inconvenience it may cause our community but that slight inconvenience really pales in comparison to our ability to keep all of our citizens safe," she said.

Dugan said he had two reasons for requesting that the mayor impose a curfew.

"When the peaceful protests are over, the people who have bad intentions use the cover of darkness to cause trouble," he said. "Also, we were having a tough time getting first responders into locations because of the traffic."

Tampa Fire Rescue was unable to reach the fire at the Mobil gas station on Busch Boulevard Saturday night because of the crowds in the way. They had to wait for police to clear a path for the fire engines while the flames spread dangerously close to the gas pumps.

"With the curfew, we were trying to get foot traffic and cars off the streets, so we could respond quicker," said Dugan.

During a news conference Monday, Dugan thanked the Florida National Guard, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco County sheriff's offices, Tarpon Springs Police Department, FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Tampa International Airport Police for their help in restoring order in Tampa.

"Let me start out by saying that black lives matter and that's what this is all about," said Dugan. People feel like black lives don't matter. It's been a trying time in our city. My heart breaks for his (George Floyd's) family and what is going on in our city and our nation."

On Sunday, Dugan marched alongside members of the group, Black Lives Matter, which staged the weekend's largest march with an estimated 500 people participating.

That march, said Dugan, was entirely peaceful. He said organizers told him they aren't anti-cop; they're anti-police brutality. Dugan said they even identified the agitators in the crowd.

"As has always been the case, the individuals causing problems are the minority," he said. "The majority of individuals came out and peacefully expressed themselves."

As the march reached 22nd Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Dugan said a different crowd of people joined in, disrupting the peace and breaking into the Hope's Food Store, one of the only grocery stores serving the mostly black community, a community Dugan said is already disproportionately suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The people out there agitating, trying to engage with police were not the ones who lived there," said Dugan. "We know the people who live there."

After stirring up the crowd with hate speech, the agitators vanished, he said.

While there have been reports of outside agitators encouraging violence in other cities across the country, Castor said police weren't able to identify any in Tampa. However, she said she wouldn't be surprised if they were part of the crowd.

"I haven't seen any evidence but, anecdotally, when you look at some of the individuals and the way they conducted themselves, it appears that not necessarily causing the damage but agitating the crowd toward physical violence and damage was apparent."

She said the police are continuing to investigate the possible involvement of outsiders in the violence over the weekend.

In the weeks to come, Dugan vowed to sit down with the community's black leaders for a series of frank, open dialogues about how to ease tensions.

"When cooler heads prevail, I want everyone to know that we promise as a police department and as a city that we will work with everyone to rebuild the trust and communication in our community," he said. "The first step that I will take as your chief of police is that I will shut up and listen to you. But I can't shut up while we have any civil unrest in our city."

Following the civil unrest in the city, five Tampa Police officers have been isolated after being exposed to a person who tested positive for the coronavirus.

Dugan said it's possible that more first-responders will have to be isolated.

"They (protesters) were in the faces of our police officers" many of which weren't protected with face masks, he said.

"It's difficult for cops to wear masks and work on the streets," he said. "It's problematic for our cops when we're out there engaging. You can't always speak and be heard when wearing a mask."

Castor said health officials will be closely monitoring the number of coronavirus cases and mapping where they are occurring in the coming weeks as a result of the possible exposure during the weekend of protests.

"It is a concern because the cases in Hillsborough County are continuing to go up," said Castor.
"And it disproportionately affects the black and brown communities."

Businesses damaged by vandalism and fire Saturday night included:

• 1102 Fowler Ave. Hertz Rental Car, front door smashed
• 2911 Fowler Ave. - CVS, pharmacy window and front door windows smashed
• 2772 Fowler Ave. – Dollar Tree, front door smashed and looted
• 2766 Fowler Ave. - Pet Supermarket, smashed front door
• 2712 Fowler Ave. – Winn-Dixie Liquor Store, front door smashed and looted
• 2566 Fowler Ave. – Cosmo Prof, front door smashed and looted
• 2564 Fowler Ave. – Boost Mobile, front door smashed and looted
• 2558 Fowler Ave. – Standard Leasing, front door smashed and looted
• 2550 Fowler Ave. – Pizza Hut, front door smashed
• 2548 Fowler Ave. – Little Greek, front door smashed
• 2381 Fowler Ave. – Champs, looted and set fire
• 2373 Fowler Ave. Saigon Bay, fire
• 2362 Fowler Ave. – Dollar General, fire
• 2367 Fowler Ave. - Malani Jewelry, fire
• 2351 Fowler Ave. – AT&T, front door smashed and looted
• 2335 Fowler Ave. – Footaction, front door smashed and looted
• 2321 Fowler Ave. - Badar Hair Store, front door smashed and looted
• 2208 Fowler Ave. - SunTrust, side window smashed and attempted looting. ATM machine pulled out of wall and looted. Also across the street the SunTrust drive-thru and the ATM were damaged
• 2201 Fowler Ave. - Vitamin Shoppe, front door smashed and looted
• 2107 Fowler Ave. - Marathon Gas, front door smashed
• 2120 Fowler Ave. - Race Trac, attempted to set fire
• 1860 Fowler Ave. – Walgreens, front door smashed and looted
• 1715 Fowler Ave. – Gold & Diamond Source, front door smashed and looted
• 1615 Fowler Ave. – Wireless Store, front door smashed and looted
• 1505 Fowler Ave. – T Mobile, front door smashed and looted
• 1216 Fowler Ave. – Sam’s Smoke Shop, front door smashed and looted
• 1214 Fowler Ave. - Black Diamond, front door smashed and looted
• 2124 Busch Blvd. – Quick Food and Gas, smashed front door
• 2400 Busch Blvd. – Dollar General, attempt to smash front door
• 2602 - A Busch Blvd. – Metro PCS, front door smashed and looted
• 2602 – B Busch Blvd. – Rapid Cash
• 3003 Busch Blvd. – Island Citgo, fire
• 3701 Busch Blvd. – Speedway, front doors smashed
• 4115 Busch Blvd. – Value Pawn, front doors smashed, looted
• 1345 N. Nebraska Ave. – Value Pawn, front door smashed and looted
• 11502 N. Nebraska Ave. - Mr Gold’s, front door smashed and looted
• 9631 N. Nebraska Ave. – Cash America, front door smashed and looted
• 11607 N. 15th St. – Jlo Beauty Supply, front door smashed and looted
• 11601 N. 15th St. – Sav Mor Market, front door smashed and looted
• 11510 30th St. – Wawa, smashed back door

See related stories:

• GoFundMe Created For Saigon Bay Damaged During Protests
• Tampa Declares Curfew; Mayor Called Rioting Heartbreaking To See
• Tampa Rally Turns Violent, Gas Station Torched, Stores Looted