Police use tear gas and flash-bangs on protesters in Iowa City Wednesday night
Caleb McCullough, Summer Editor
June 3, 2020
Police set off flash-bangs and tear gas Wednesday night on protesters who, according to multiple people on the front lines of the protest, had not been physically violent. A march that began on the Pentacrest at 6 p.m. covered a great distance throughout Iowa City until a standoff with police o...
Peaceful marching, some damages during second night of protesting in Iowa City
Josie Fischels, Summer Editor
June 3, 2020
Hundreds marched through Iowa City Tuesday night for the “Black Live Matter Black Out Protest” that began at St. Morrison Park at 7 p.m. in Coralville. At least one arrest was made and some protesters were pepper sprayed later in the night. An Iowa City police officer told a small group that an in...
Iowa shatters primary turnout record with mail-in ballots in unprecedented primary election amid COVID-19
Katie Ann McCarver, News Editor
June 2, 2020
A record number of Iowans cast their ballots in Tuesday's primaries after the Secretary of State's Office mailed each active Iowa voter an absentee ballot-request form to encourage voting from home. Statewide voter turnout was at 24.11 percent according to the Secretary of State website. Of more than 2.1 million registere...
Iowa City protest remains mostly peaceful despite tension with police, broken glass
Caleb McCullough, Summer Editor
June 2, 2020
A night of protesting unfolded across Iowa City Monday night to protest the death of George Floyd and police violence against black people. The night ended with minor property damage and no major altercations between protesters and Iowa City and Johnson County police. Old Capitol - 21 N. Clinton...
At Coral Ridge Mall, police meet protesters with chemical irritant, flashbangs
Sarah Watson, Fall Executive Editor
June 1, 2020
More than a dozen police, sheriff, and state trooper squad cars as well as a fire engine blocked off the 25th Avenue entrance to the Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville Sunday night into the early hours of Monday morning as a group of about 50 people protesting police brutality against black people gathe...
Hundreds gather at Pentacrest for ‘Say Their Names’ rally against police violence
Caleb McCullough, Summer Editor
May 30, 2020
Hundreds of people gathered on the Pentacrest Saturday to rally against police brutality and in honor of George Floyd as days of protests, some violent, have taken place across the United States. Local leaders and protest organizers took turns speaking before the crowd, donned in masks and face sh...
Editorial | No justice, no peace: Iowans must support the Black Lives Matter movement
DI Editorial Board
May 30, 2020
Iowa’s northern neighbor is the current epicenter of a centuries-long infliction of violence and oppression against Black Americans. On Memorial Day, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man was killed after repeating, “I can’t breathe” as a white police officer knelt on his neck. Floyd h...
Protesters and police clash after rally in honor of George Floyd in Des Moines
Josie Fischels, Summer Editor
May 30, 2020
Face-to-face with a line of Des Moines police officers in riot gear, a group of protesters chanted, threw water bottles at police officers, and engaged in property damage within a timeline of almost three hours following the end of a peaceful protest in honor of George Floyd that took place from ...
Iowa City activists plan rally in solidarity with George Floyd Saturday on Pentacrest
Sarah Watson, Executive Editor
May 29, 2020
Iowa City activists have planned a rally set to begin Saturday at noon on the Pentacrest in solidarity with the Minneapolis protests and in honor of George Floyd. Floyd died on Memorial Day after a Minneapolis police officer pressed Floyd's neck to the ground with his knee for several minutes. Video...
Iowa City cancels Fourth of July fireworks
Sarah Watson, Managing Editor
May 22, 2020
Iowa City won't host its annual Fourth of July fireworks this summer, the city announced Friday, in order to continue mitigating the spread of the novel coronavirus. The annual Summer of the Arts programming will also look a little different this summer. The annual Iowa City Jazz Festival, norma...
Iowa City businesses reopened cautiously commencement weekend
Sarah Watson, Managing Editor
May 17, 2020
Zoey Sletterhaugh’s parents drove five hours from Kansas City to be with their daughter in Iowa City for her virtual commencement ceremony this weekend. The trio, which was supposed to include her grandparents, in their 80s, and her brother, wholives in Colorado, spent the morning taking p...
‘It feels surreal’: Hawkeyes celebrate virtually as they graduate amid unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic
Rin Swann, News Reporter
May 16, 2020
First-generation student and graduating senior Hunter Aldred sat beside his roommate wearing a cap and gown. Instead of a backdrop of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Aldred sat on his well-worn white couch in his Iowa City apartment. In one hand, he held his phone and watched his virtual commencement cerem...