El Paso police headquarters target of Floyd protest vandalism overnight

EL PASO, Texas -- The El Paso Police Department headquarters was vandalized overnight as anger boiled over in at least 30 cities across the U.S. sparked in part by this week's death of George Floyd, an unarmed and handcuffed 46-year-old black man, while in Minneapolis police custody.

Crews worked Saturday morning to remove painted messages on the building, at the corner of Piedras and Montana in central El Paso, reading “RIP GEORGE FLOYD” and “NO JUSTICE NO PEACE.”

It was the second EPPD building to be graffitied by protesters in recent days. Earlier in the week, curse words were scrawled on the northeast station, ABC-7 was told.

All in all, that made El Paso remarkably calm compared to protests in other cities across Texas and the nation.

Pepper spray and tear gas had to be used by police Friday night to stop protests that got out of control in both Dallas and Floyd's hometown of Houston.

In New Mexico, 4 people were arrested after gunshots occurred during a Floyd protest in Albuquerque.

In other major cities like Atlanta, the demonstrations turned fiery as protesters torched a police car outside the CNN Center, while in Detroit a man was shot dead as someone opened fire from an SUV into the protest crowds, and in D.C. the protests forced a temporary White House lockdown.

At the epicenter of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the governor fully activated the National Guard Saturday morning following a fourth night of violence.