Following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police on May 25, a wave of protests swept across all fifty states. The country has seen peaceful marches, and occasionally riots, in which protestors voiced their rage and grief over America’s history of police brutality, and how it has lead to the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sean Monterrossa, and many more. At the time of this writing, the Bay Area is in its 15th consecutive day of protest. This collection of photos shows the initial days of action in San Francisco, from May 31 to June 6.
June 6—Having been confined to the pedestrian walkways for most of the march, protesters spill into the roadway and halt traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge.
May 31—A group of protesters marches down Powell Street.
May 31—Police line up in front of the Swarovski store in Union Square. The store had been looted the night before.
May 31—A man watches protesters march past from within an office building on Market Street.
May 31—A woman surveys the damage to Grace Jewelers on O’Farrell Street after looters had torn through the metal gates and robbed the store the night before.
May 31—Police officers trail a protest marching away from City Hall.
June 6—Protesters raise the American flag on the Golden Gate Bridge.
June 3—At the largest of San Francisco’s George Floyd protests to date, a dense crowd marches down 18th Street.
June 6—Protesters encircle a police car on the Golden Gate Bridge.
May 31—Police armed with rubber bullet weapons stand at the edge of a protest on Market Street.
June 6—A protester raises their fist at the San Francisco entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge.
June 3—A police officer stands in a closed off 17th street as protesters gather around the Mission police station.
June 3—Protesters march down 16th street.
June 3—A line of police stand behind a barrier in front of protesters at the Mission police station.
June 6—A police officer rushes to communicate with fellow officers as an increasing number of protesters gather in the Golden Gate Bridge roadway.
May 31—Protesters kneel in front of a line of police in Union Square.
May 31—A broken window in Union Square.
May 31—A man with a power washer removes anti-police graffiti from Union Square’s Dewey Monument.
June 3—Police wait outside the Mission police station as the city’s curfew draws near.
May 31—A protester sits in front of police assigned to keep protesters from marching onto the Bay Bridge.
June 3—Protesters dance and march towards The Mission police station.
June 6—After news breaks that a woman in labor is stuck in the halted Golden Gate Bridge traffic, a protester with a megaphone asks marchers to unblock the road.
June 6—A protester holds a sign while standing on the Golden Gate Bridge’s median strip.
June 3—A police officer watches protesters from behind a barrier on 17th street.
May 31—The morning after widespread looting in Union Square, a worker covers the windows of Macy’s with plywood.
May 31—Broken glass and overturned mannequins inside a looted Urban Outfitters in Union Square.
May 31—Broken windows at the Union Square Louis Vuitton store on Union Square.
May 31—A worker clears glass from, and installs plywood over the broken windows of Acne Studios on Geary Street.
June 3—From the roof of a building overlooking Dolores Park, police observe the growing protest gathering outside Mission High School.
June 6—Protesters kneel together and raise their fists on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Kit Castagne is a San Francisco native photographer who has spent his career covering music and current events in the Bay Area, Boston, and New York. Find him online here, or on Instagram at: @kit_castagne