2 officers injured during Sunday night’s protests in Orange County

Orange County saw several demonstrations over the weekend in the wake of George Floyd’s death but the number of arrests and severity of damages paled in comparison.

The most notable and largest local protests were in Santa Ana, San Clemente and Huntington Beach. Protesters came out in droves Sunday night to oppose the death of George Floyd.

The demonstrations followed a previous day of protests across the nation. Some cities mandated curfews.

The Santa Ana protest on Sunday resulted in 10 arrests, police said Monday. Nine were for people who failed to disperse, and one was for brandishing a weapon and firing a projectile at an officer, said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. On Saturday, there were also nine arrests, he said.

Santa Ana protesters in two groups held what started as peaceful gatherings Sunday evening. One, with about 100 people, stood outside the Old Orange County Courthouse.

Another, with 500 people, marched along Flower Street to Civic Center Drive and past the Orange County Superior Courthouse.  By the early evening, demonstrators were shooting off fireworks and later that night crowds mostly dispersed as police declared it an unlawful assembly.

“The damage was minimal,” Bertagna said. “There was some vandalism, but nothing like other areas.”

But two officers, one from Santa Ana and one from Anaheim, were injured in that protest and hospitalized, Bertagna said. The Santa Ana officer was hit with a projectile in the head, while the Anaheim police officer was hit with a projectile and sufffered a burn.

Meanwhile in San Clemente, sheriff’s officials said there were no arrests, injuries or property damage during Sunday night’s demonstration despite being met by counter-protesters. Dozens marched from North Beach through the city’s downtown and joined with another 700 at the Pier Bowl.

Dozens of counter-protesters heckled the demonstrators from across the street, prompting deputies on motorcycles to stand between them.

Earlier on Sunday in Huntington Beach police fired pepper balls at demonstrators who would not disperse. The protest began at about 11:30 a.m. and continued mostly peacefully. By about 1 p.m., police declared an unlawful assembly and began warning people to leave the area.

On Sunday, Huntington Beach police reported, four people were arreste,d though it was immediately unclear on Monday why they were taken into custody for and if there were any injuries.