RALEIGH, N.C. – The organizer of one of the protests over George Floyd's death said he wants to know why it took this long to release body camera footage.

Kerwin Pittman organized one of the protests that brought thousands of people to downtown Raleigh on May 30, almost a week after George Floyd was killed at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The protests started peacefully, but turned violent once night fell. Shortly after the riots, Pittman took the Raleigh Police Department to court to force the release of body and dash camera footage. City officials released more than 500 such videos on Tuesday evening.

“For them to release this many at one time this late in the game, it kind of makes me wonder, was it in the spirit of transparency, the true spirit of transparency?” he says. “Because we had originally asked for swift transparency.”

Taken from officers during the events of May 30, May 31 and June 1, the videos provide numerous views of how the protests changed over time.

One video shows officers entering the CVS on Fayetteville Street with rifles shortly after rioters ransacked it. The officers take a pair of fire extinguishers with them on their way out to deal with the small fires that cropped up. In another video, officers urge a woman, apparently unaware of events downtown, to abandon her errand there and take shelter in a nearby building. Still more capture protesters throwing objects at officers, and officers firing tear gas in response.

The videos capture less-violent interactions with protesters as well. In one, a demonstrator asks a group of officers in riot gear if any of them would intervene if they saw a colleague using excessive force. When one officer raises his hand, she thanks them.

“That's why we're out here. We don't want to die. We're here for you to promise us that you'll protect us by any means,” she tells the officers.

In another video, an officer tells a man holding a homemade Black Lives Matter sign he will protect him if someone tries to hurt him, though the man appears unconvinced.

Pittman says he fears Raleigh police cherry-picked the videos to show officers in the best possible light. He says he will continue to push for more footage to be released. In the meantime, he says his mission has changed from one of protest to one of policy, including finding candidates who are willing to take protesters' demands into public office.

The Raleigh Police Department declined to make Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown available to discuss the videos. The Raleigh chapter of the Police Benevolent Association did not return a request for comment.