At least 5,600 people have been arrested in cities around the country since demonstrations broke out protesting the death of George Floyd, according to a tally compiled by Associated Press journalists from police department press releases, police agency Twitter activity, and media.
The arrests come as protests in some cities become more violent and as police and governors are urged by President Donald Trump to take a stronger hand in quelling the demonstrations.
In Minneapolis, where Floyd died, some 155 arrests have taken place. Some of the biggest cities in the US have made a significant number of arrests, including nearly 800 in New York City and more than 900 in Los Angeles. Three people were killed and several injured including four policemen in anti-racism riots
The dramatic escalation came a week after the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed when a white police officer knelt on his neck, leading to the worst civil unrest in decades in New York, Los Angeles and dozens of other American cities.
“What happened in the city last night was a total disgrace,” said Trump during the nationwide address as tear gas went off and crowds protested in the streets nearby.
“I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property.”
Trump denounced “acts of domestic terrorism” and said “I want the organisers of this terror to be on notice that you will face severe criminal penalties and lengthy sentences in jail,” Trump said.
During his address, police could be heard using tear gas and stun grenades to clear protestors just outside the White House.
The security forces that moved against protesters at the White House included National Guard military police, Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security police as well as District of Columbia police. The White House said it was clearing the area ahead of a curfew. Floyd’s death was the latest case of police brutality against black men caught on videotape and prompting an outcry over racism in US law enforcement.
Terrence Floyd, the victim’s brother, told a gathering he wanted people to get educated and vote rather than resort to violence and destruction. “Let’s do this another way,” he said.
Meanwhile, James Pool, a 31-year-old former Marine, said he is hopeful peaceful protests will make a difference as he marched past the Minnesota Governor’s Residence in St. Paul, the state capital.
“I want to see more community and this country come together and stop letting the powers that be divide us,” he said. “Because that is exactly what they have done. They want to keep us in fear of each other.”
Floyd’s agonizing death was caught on bystander cell phone video that shows policeman Derek Chauvin pinning him down with his knee for nearly nine minutes, as the 46-year-old pleaded for his life with the haunting words: “I can’t breathe!”
Floyd, 46, had been accused of trying to buy cigarettes with a counterfeit bill.
The incident has reignited simmering racial tensions in a politically divided country that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with African Americans accounting for a disproportionately high number of cases.
Trump also called on state governors to “deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets” before heading on foot for a photo op at the riot-damaged St. John’s, the two-century-old “church of the presidents” across from the White House.
He walked from the White House through the area that had been cleared for him to nearby St. John’s Episcopal Church, where he clutched a Bible as he posed for pictures with his daughter, Ivanka, and US Attorney General William Barr.The photo op resulted in backlash from several corners.
“He’s using the American military against the American people,” tweeted Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden.“He tear-gassed peaceful protesters and fired rubber bullets. For a photo. For our children, for the very soul of our country, we must defeat him,” said Biden.
Washington’s Episcopalian bishop, Marian Budde, said she was “outraged” at the church visit, which she said Trump did not have permission for.
The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church diocese in Washington DC, Michael Curry, was among those who criticised Trump’s use of the historic church for a photo opportunity.
“In so doing, he used a church building and the Holy Bible for partisan political purposes,” he said on Twitter. The church suffered minor fire damage during protests on Monday night. Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders took to Twitter to say, “Trump just had peaceful demonstrators viciously attacked. No, Mr. President. This is not a dictatorship. This is the United States of America. Our citizens have a constitutional right to peacefully protest. It’s called the First Amendment.”
Meanwhile, on Monday, an independent autopsy ordered by Floyd’s family was released and found his death was homicide by “mechanical asphyxiation,” or physical force that interfered with his oxygen supply. The report says three officers contributed to his death. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner later released autopsy findings that also called Floyd’s death homicide by asphyxiation. The county report said Floyd suffered cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by police and that he had arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, fentanyl intoxication, and recent methamphetamine use.
One week after Floyd died in Minneapolis, an autopsy blamed his videotaped death squarely on a white police officer who pinned him down by the neck with his knee for nearly nine minutes as Floyd pleaded, “I can’t breathe!”
“The evidence is consistent with mechanical asphyxia as the cause of death, and homicide as the manner of death,” Aleccia Wilson, a University of Michigan expert who examined his body at the family’s request, told a news conference.
Derek Chauvin, the 44-year-old Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on Floyd, was arrested on third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. Three other officers involved in the arrest have not been charged. It is the most widespread unrest in the United States since 1968, when cities went up in flames over the slaying of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.
Dozens of cities across the United States remain under curfews and the National Guard has been deployed in 23 states and Washington, DC.
Across America
As darkness fell hours after the president’s remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House, violence erupted for the seventh night. Demonstrators set fire to a strip mall in Los Angeles and looted stores in New York City.A few hours after the Washington fracas, thousands of people marched through the streets of Brooklyn, shouting “justice now!” while cars drove alongside, some drivers honking in support.
Television images showed throngs smashing windows and looting luxury stores along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, one of the cities toniest shopping districts, before the city’s 11 p.m. curfew. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the curfew would be moved to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.In Los Angeles, where the National Guard were deployed at Hollywood landmarks such as the Dolby Theatre, some looting was also reported, though protests were largely peaceful.
“Deep down inside us, we’ve had enough,” said 30-year-old Jessica Hubbert, a protester.A woman wearing a protective face mask holds a sign during a rally and candlelight vigil for George Floyd, at Queens Park in Queens, New York, June 1, 2020. Photo: Reuters
In Hollywood, dozens of people were shown in television images looting a drug store after the front door was smashed. Windows were shattered at a nearby Starbucks and two restaurants before suspects scattered as police arrived.
A media watchdog has called on US authorities to stop targeting journalists covering protests over the death of an unarmed Black man in police custody and exempt them from curfew restrictions.
In a statement published on Tuesday, the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that since May 29, at least 125 press freedom violations had been reported nationwide by journalists covering the demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, who died a week ago after a white police officer pinned his neck under his knee for nearly nine minutes.
Two people were killed during unrest in the Chicago suburb of Cicero as protests continued over the death of George Floyd, according to a town official.
Spokesman Ray Hanania says 60 people were arrested in the town of about 84,000 located west of Chicago. Hanania didn't provide additional information about those killed or the circumstances of their deaths.
The Illinois State Police and Cook County Sheriff's Office were called in to help local police Monday as people broke into a liquor store and other businesses and stole items.
Former US President Barack Obama on Monday condemned the use of violence at the nationwide protests while praising the actions of peaceful protesters seeking change. While the vast majority of protesters have been peaceful, a "small minority" was putting people at risk and harming the very communities the protests are intended to help, Obama wrote in an online essay posted on Medium.
Obama, a Democrat who served two presidential terms prior to Republican Donald Trump, said the violence was "compounding the destruction of neighborhoods that are often already short on services and investment and detracting from the larger cause".
In his essay, Obama urged protesters not to be cynical about politics, arguing that electing new leaders on the national and local levels would bring about change.
"Eventually, aspirations have to be translated into specific laws and institutional practices - and in a democracy, that only happens when we elect government officials who are responsive to our demands," he said.
