As you've seen over the past few days, giant protests are happening all across the U.S. and around the world.
And many of those protests in the U.S. have turned violent, with some areas seeing rioting, looting, and aggressive escalation from the police, protestors, and, it seems, some outside agitators.
The protests are a response to the Minneapolis police officer killing George Floyd . . . and, really, they're also a response to years of pent up anger, frustration, inequality, and disenfranchisement.
And with the pandemic uprooting lives for two-and-a-half months, 40 million people suddenly out of work and in financial trouble, and a country more fractured down partisan lines than any time in recent memory . . . the powder keg exploded.
Here are five things you need to know . . .
1. There were protests in at least 75 cities over the weekend. Curfews have been put in place in around 40 cities and counting and the National Guard has been activated in at least 17 states.
There have not been nationwide protests of this scale sinceDr. Martin Luther King Jr.was assassinated in 1968.
2. Not every protest turned violent or ended with fires, looting, and vandalism. In fact, in some places, like Flint, Michigan,police marched arm-in-armwith the protestors. In other cities, however, things escalated.
There's been a particularly surprising reaction to journalists by the police . . . with several incidents of the cops arresting, pepper spraying, or even attacking the crews covering the protests.
3. While it's almost impossible to get any definitive numbers, police have made approximately 4,100 arrests and there have been at least five people killed.
4. Derek Chauvin is the police officer who killed George Floyd, and he was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Friday night. The three cops who were with him and did nothing to stop him have not been arrested.
He could be facing up to a total 35 years between the two charges.
The county medical examiner's report says the causes of Floyd's death are, quote, "combined effects of Mr. Floyd's being restrained by police, underlying health conditions, and any potential intoxicants in his system."
Floyd's family is having a second autopsy done by a top forensic pathologist and will release the results to the public.
5. While social media is our eyes and ears into everything happening with these protests, as always, it's also a major source of misinformation. BuzzFeed News has a running list of hoaxes, and remember: Even in this day and age, there IS such a thing as truth.