Thousands of activists and protesters took to the streets of New York City on Friday to speak out against police brutality and to show solidarity with George Floyd, the Minneapolis man choked to death earlier this week.

The first of two major protests began around 4 p.m. at Foley Square in Lower Manhattan before moving north to Centre Street and White Street, with the largest group leading a standoff with the New York City police in front of the Manhattan Detention Complex and the New York Criminal Courts Building.

Standing in solidarity with the protesters in the center of Foley Square was the mother of Eric Garner, who died in New York in 2014 after being put in a police choke hold.

One protester managed to spray-paint “FTP” on one New York Police Department van, and George Floyd’s name on the side of the jail, though several protesters in the crowd tried to prevent her from doing this.

The protests in New York were just one among dozens of cities holding similar rallies, and remained otherwise largely peaceful compared with Atlanta, Charlotte or Minneapolis.