Police have arrested nearly 1,400 people in 17 US cities as protests continue over the death of George Floyd, according to the Associated Press news agency.An Associated Press tally of arrests found at least 1,383 people have been arrested since Thursday. The actual number is likely higher as protests continue Saturday night.Demonstrations against racism and police brutality have spread to even more cities across the United States as people in many parts of the country defied curfews to protest against the killing of George Floyd.
The days-long protests sweeping the nation have reawakened outrage over years of deaths of Black people at the hands of police, renewing long-standing accusations of institutionalised and systemic racism.Participants held signs saying "Black Lives Matter" and chanted "I can't breathe" - some of Floyd's last words before he died on Monday shortly after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, pinned him down with a knee to the neck for several minutes.
A thousand more National Guard soldiers were mobilized Saturday as violent protests over the death of an unarmed black man during an arrest in Minneapolis erupted across the United States.
The National Guard has been called out in Washington, DC, as pockets of violence erupted during a second straight night of protests.Police used pepper spray to try to disperse the crowd, but the standoff continued. Protesters dragged away barricades and some broke up concrete to use as projectiles. At one point, a rubbish bin was set on fire.
National Guard troops took up position around the White House on Saturday night.
Hundreds of protesters converged on the White House during the day Saturday and marched on the National Mall, chanting "Black Lives Matter," "I can't breathe" and "No justice, no peace". Those protests remained relatively peaceful.
Murder charges laid against the officer Friday failed to quell seething anger as riots against police racism raged from New York to Los Angeles in one of the worst nights of civil unrest in America in years.
Demonstrators ignoring a curfew clashed with police for a fourth straight night in the midwestern city of Minneapolis, where fires burned out of control, looters roamed freely and protesters staged cat-and-mouse clashes with law enforcement.
Minnesota National Guard Major General Jon Jensen told a press conference early Saturday that the state’s governor had authorized the deployment of an extra 1,000 soldiers to help police control the situation.
The state has become the epicenter of violence since George Floyd died there in an arrest by an officer who pinned him to the ground for several minutes by kneeling on his neck. Derek Chauvin was charged Friday with one count of third-degree murder — unintentionally causing a death — and one count of negligent manslaughter.
“This case is now ready, and we have charged it,” said county prosecutor Mike Freeman as outrage grew over the latest death of an African American in police custody.
But the charges failed to calm a shaken nation whose deep wounds over racial inequality have been torn open anew.
In Atlanta, police cruisers were attacked and set ablaze as rallies spun out of control, while in the capital Washington protesters collided with Secret Service agents in heated midnight scenes in front of the White House.
President Donald Trump said he watched “every move” the agents took and “couldn’t have felt more safe.” In a tweet, he wrote: “They let the ‘protesters’ scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard – didn’t know what hit them.”
Protests took hold in a swathe of cities including Boston, Dallas, Denver, Des Moines, Houston, Las Vegas, Memphis, and Portland.
‘Chaos’
Authorities imposed a curfew Friday in Minneapolis after three nights of protests left parts of the city in flames.But the demonstrators, many wearing masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, defiantly remained on the streets, facing off with police who fired tear gas and flashbangs in efforts to regain control.
Trump 'didn't give me the opportunity to even speak': George Floyd's brother
The brother of George Floyd said he was not given "the opportunity to even speak" when President Donald Trump called the Floyd family on Friday.
"It was so fast. He didn't give me the opportunity to even speak. It was hard," Philonise Floyd told MSNBC.
"I was trying to talk to him but he just kept like pushing me off like 'I don’t want to hear what you're talking about,'" he said.
"And I just told him I want justice, I said I can't believe they committed a modern day lynching in broad day light. I can't stand it," Philonise Floyd added. "I just want to understand, why do we have to go through this?"
Gabriel Elizondo in New York City: "It's pretty chaotic out here right now ... Groups of protesters are really playing cat and mouse [with police] ... Right now the bottom line is: New York City is really a city in the middle of fog right now because it's really hard to make out exactly what's happening
Natasha Ghoneim in Chicago, Illinois: "This moment is eerily reminiscent of another moment that the city of Chicago had, and it won't fade from its memory. That was in 2014 when the police shot and killed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald."
Lucien Formichella in Minneapolis, Minnesota: "There was a tense moment here in Minneapolis earlier when what was believed to be a drunk man attempted to drive his car through the protest area. The situation was de-escalated by protesters, and the man was sent back. Protesters then erected makeshift barricades to stop cars from driving down the street."
