RICHMOND, Va. -- Two Chester men were arrested and charged with damaging state vehicles parked at VCU during rioting that occurred May 30 in Richmond.
"A VCU Police officer observed two people breaking the windows of a state vehicle in a VCU parking lot. Upon inspection of other vehicles in the lot, located in the 700 block of W. Broad St., the officer also found damage to eight additional state vehicles. Damages to all vehicles included broken windshields and broken windows," a VCU Police spokesperson wrote in an email.
Devon Atkins and Del’ Shon Bell, both 20 and from Chester, were charged with one count of destruction of property.
Police indicated Atkins was not currently enrolled as a VCU student and Bell had no affiliation with the university.
The vehicle damage was part of a weekend of rioting following protests in the wake of George Floyd's death.
Floyd, a handcuffed Black man, died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd said he couldn’t breathe.
Video of the police custody sparked nationwide outrage, protests, and rioting
In addition to the damaged vehicles, rioters set fire to a GRTC bus, a Richmond Police car, and broke windows at Richmond Police Headquarters and numerous downtown businesses.
