WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As protesters chanted near the White House, Michael Piatschak leaned from his one-wheeled electric skateboard, extended a trash-grabbing claw and, like a raptor swooping on prey, snagged a plastic bag off the street and stuffed it into a shoulder sack.
FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators sit as they gather during a protest against the death in police custody of George Floyd, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, U.S., June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
“I figured this is how I could help,” said the white 29-year-old Maryland native, his long hair topped by a helmet, a surgical mask hiding his face. “I feel like a super hero when I’m doing it.”
Piatschak quit his job as a business analyst and joined the countless numbers of Americans volunteering time and money to support nationwide marches against racism and police brutality ignited by the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an African American who died after a white former police officer knelt on his neck.
Across the country, citizens, charities and companies large and small are donating time and money to help clean up and rebuild riot-hit neighborhoods or bail protesters from jails despite the new coronavirus pandemic.
They are bu