ORLANDO, Fla. – Thursday night into Friday morning in Orlando saw four protest-related arrests and another two arrests after curfew of two men caught with a machine pistol, loaded handguns, ammunition and more, according to the police department.
The first set of arrests happened in the area of Magnolia Avenue and Amelia Street, as officers were trying to create a path through downtown Orlando for the protesters so they wouldn’t interfere with traffic.
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The hundreds of people who gathered in the area throughout the evening to demonstrate against police brutality after the death of George Floyd, a black man killed in custody due to an officer pinning his knee to his neck, remained mostly peaceful.
However, police said at some point, protesters “charged at the officers, pushing them and the police bikes.” Pepper spray was used and four protesters were arrested on disorderly conduct charges: a 25-year-old man, a 19-year-old man, a 20-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman.
Hours later, around 2 a.m. Friday, police said they stopped a vehicle on Vineland Road due to traffic and curfew violations and inside the car they found three loaded handguns, a machine pistol, several handgun magazines, high capacity magazines, a magazine drum, several boxes of ammunition, four cell phones and a ski mask.
As a result, José González Ortiz, 25, and Lenen Colón, 21, were arrested, according to a news release.
They both face charges of resisting arrest without violence and violating a curfew while Ortiz faces an additional charge of attempting to flee and elude. Additional charges are pending against them.