Staff reports  |  Saturday brought a pretty peaceful protest of up to 1,000 people marching through the streets of downtown Charleston.  But as night fell, looters ransacked stores and eateries already suffering from weeks of closure due to the novel coronavirus.  

Police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd as rioters, generally thought to be a different set of people from protesters, threw bricks, rocks and furniture through windows along King Street, particularly causing damage north of Calhoun Street. By 10 p.m., a countywide curfew was in effect.

Just before midnight, Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg released the following statement:  “The murder of George Floyd has rightly caused outrage here and across the country. And while we as Charlestonians strongly support all of the good men and women who are peacefully and lawfully protesting that terrible crime, we cannot and will not condone acts of violence and vandalism in our city. …