The scene was eerily similar to one Dallas has seen unfold before.
Around 9:30 p.m. Monday night, hundreds of protesters marched towards the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, which connects West Dallas to downtown. Police wearing masks and holding shields and batons blocked their way. Red and blue sirens glowed behind the line of officers, and the lights of downtown’s skyline slowly faded between green and purple behind the bridge.
Five years ago, protests that followed the killing of George Floyd culminated with the Dallas Police detaining more than 600 demonstrators on that same bridge, in front of that same backdrop. Police corralled the protesters onto the bridge, a technique known as kettling, before shooting rubber bullets, tear gas and smoke. Hundreds were handcuffed and loaded onto buses, where they were taken to the Frank Crowley Courthouse and told to go home.
The department received dozens of use-of-force complaints following the protest. Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall resigned amid the fallout from that night, but not before releasing an after-action report detailing communication failures and an unclear chain of command. In response, the department pledged to train officers in protest response better and tighten up protocols for who in the department can approve the use of less-than-lethal force.
The handling of that protest has been a stain for Dallas for five years, and is undoubtedly what was running through the heads of officers as they blocked the bridge from protesters last night.
Five hundred protesters began gathering at the park next to the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge around 7:00 p.m. Monday for a rally to denounce the Trump administration and federal immigration enforcement, and to show solidarity for protesters in Los Angeles. President Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard and Marines to LA to handle the unrest. The Dallas gathering was peaceful and relaxed, with fewer than a dozen police officers standing around the park’s outskirts to monitor.
One woman, Michelle J., stood alongside Singleton Boulevard in the red cape and white bonnet made famous by The Handmaid's Tale, waving a rainbow flag that read “equality.” She asked that her last name be omitted from this report because of law enforcement surveillance of demonstrators.
“[The escalation of the Los Angeles protests] actually motivated me to come out more. I told my family that I will try not to get arrested today—no promises,” another protestor, Michelle W., a Mesquite resident, told the Observer. “I'm kind of a loner, and so being around this many people really kicks up the anxiety. It's not my comfort zone, but I feel like I have a responsibility to be here.”
As the sun began to set, the protesters moved onto Singleton Boulevard despite police warning them to stay off the street. That was the first moment it felt like tensions flared, as the meager police force held up their shields to block off the road and were largely overpowered and ignored. At least one protester was arrested during this skirmish, with several others reporting being pepper-sprayed. The Observer did not witness the events leading up to the arrest.
Video shared with the Observer by protester Victor Macias shows eight officers attempting to detain a man and hold the protesters at bay while doing so. At least one individual can be seen aggressively shoving officers in an attempt to free the detainee, and chants of "Let him go," and "Do not engage" can be heard.
When reached for comment regarding the arrest, a DPD spokesperson provided the following statement.
"One arrest was made during the demonstration. 27-year-old Gerardo Velasquez was arrested and charged with Assault on a Public Servant – Bodily Injury and [Taking] a Weapon from a Peace Officer. He was seen hitting the window of a fully marked police squad car with tactical equipment inside," read the statement provided to the Observer. "Some officers were struck by water bottles, but no significant injuries occurred. The arrested person was transported to the hospital for treatment prior to being transported and booked into the Dallas County Jail."
The large assembly moved down Singleton before turning into the La Bajada neighborhood behind Trinity Groves. Organizers told us that while the rally had been a planned gathering, the march was not planned and occurred organically as protesters felt called to mobilize.
Videos shared with @dallas_observer show the moment DPD made an arrest at last night’s protest. Chants of “Let him go” and “Do not engage,” at least one individual can be seen attempting to shove/push officers while the detainee is being held down. Still no official info from DPD pic.twitter.com/cTsSPFoUZu
— emma ruby 🦖 (@emmaeruby) June 10, 2025
During the protesters' march, a much larger police force had gathered on the bridge. Around 70 officers stood in tactical gear, blocking traffic and the bridge’s entrance, and police vehicles of all sizes lined the surrounding streets. It was the department’s most significant show of force since 2020, and as protesters approached the officers around 9:30 p.m., it felt like the evening could be nearing the tipping point into a similar situation to five years ago. The two lines stood separated by only a few yards, as many of the protesters screamed expletives at the officers.
Some organizers called for protesters to step away from the line of officers, remain peaceful, and not throw things at the police. Eventually, a line of volunteers in yellow vests was able to move the majority of protesters off the street and back into the park area.
Some protesters resisted, though. Around two dozen remained in front of the officers, yelling and taunting the police. A handful wore gas masks and goggles, prepared for potential escalation. At this point in the evening, police declared the assembly unlawful and warned protesters to disperse, threatening the potential of using tear gas and making arrests.
“I'm fucking sick of it and people in LA are fucking sick of it too, and I'm standing behind them,” Nick W., a protester who remained in front of the officers while wearing a gas mask, told the Observer. “I personally just hate the fucking cops. The police were founded on racism, the entire country was.”
Just before 10:30 p.m., police formed a line closing off the intersection and began approaching the protesters while chanting “Move Back.” Some protesters threw water bottles at the officers, and one lit firework was thrown at the line, which exploded in the street. The Observer did not witness the use of any gas or rubber bullets, and no other arrests were seen.
Victoria Williams, a lifelong Dallas resident who could see the commotion from her downtown residence and decided to watch, told the Observer she felt uncomfortable by the prominence of other nations’ flags at the event. Mexican and Palestinian flags were the most common at the gathering, although some Venezuelan, Puerto Rican and United States flags were flown.
“My father was an only child, and he volunteered for the Vietnam War to protect this country," Williams said. “At his funeral, they folded that flag up real nice, so it is insulting to watch our flag burned and spit on.”

The Observer witnessed officers holding cannister guns, but did not see any smoke or tear gas deployed.
Emma Ruby
The Observer did not witness the burning of any flags.
For the next hour, police stood at the edge of Singleton and blocked protesters from retaking the road. The crowd dwindled to only around 50 before it disbanded entirely.
Esperanza Tomeo is an organizer with the Latino Civil Rights group, the Brown Berets. She said her organization “consistently discusses and prepares for” the potential of police escalation during protests, and in a way, Monday stood as a test for how Dallas’ new police Chief, Daniel Comeaux, would handle such a demonstration. Unlike five years ago, when police escalated a largely peaceful protest in a way that reaffirmed community concerns about overpolicing, last night's demonstration was largely allowed to run its course without major police interference.
Comeaux took office just a little over a month ago and is set to address the Community Police Oversight Board for the first time this evening. He’s already received pushback for statements made to Fox News, which he says were taken out of context.
The statement “Pick another city. Don’t come to Dallas. You’re not welcome” has been tied to Comeaux’s stance on migrants. However, he says he was responding to a question about violent individuals, not immigration policy, and the quote was taken out of context. Still, Tomeo says she is wary of how a police department willing to work with federal immigration enforcement will impact her city.
“I'm from California myself, and so I have been hearing first-hand of what's been happening, and it's mirroring a lot of what's happening here,” Tomeo told the Observer. “People can't go out and buy groceries, they can't go to the store, they can't go do things with their families. They're stuck in their homes and paralyzed. Entire communities are paralyzed by fear.”