MAYHEM, SHOCK ACROSS U.S.
Nation prepares for more protests
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of major U.S. cities on Tuesday for an eighth consecutive night of protests over the death of a black man in police custody, defying pleas by mayors, strict curfews and other measures meant to curtail them.
Major marches took place in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta and New York City, as well as in Washington, D.C., near the park where demonstrators were forcibly cleared on Monday to make a path for President Donald Trump so he could walk from the White House to a historic church for a photo.
Although rallies on behalf of George Floyd and other victims of police brutality have been largely peaceful during the day, after dark crowds have turned to rioting, vandalism, arson and looting. On Monday night, five police officers were hit by gunfire in two cities.
Outside the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday afternoon a throng took to one knee, chanting “silence is violence” and “no justice, no peace,” as officers faced them just before the government-imposed curfew.
The crowd remained in Lafayette park and elsewhere in the capital after dark, despite the curfew and vows by Trump to crack down on what he has called lawlessness by “hoodlums” and “thugs,” using the National Guard or even the U.S. military if necessary.
The head of the U.S. National Guard said on Tuesday that 18,000 Guard members were assisting local law enforcement in 29 states.
Trump derided local authorities, including state governors, for their response to the disturbances.
“NYC, CALL UP THE NATIONAL GUARD. The lowlifes and losers are ripping you apart. Act fast!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
After the curfew began in New
York City, thousands of chanting and cheering protesters marched from the Barclays Center down Flatbush toward the Brooklyn Bridge as police helicopters whirred overheard.
A crowd, gathered at an entrance to the Manhattan Bridge roadway, chanted at riot police: “Walk with us! Walk with us.”
Police in riot helmets, far fewer than on previous nights, watched at a distance from the sidewalk as cars honked in support.
On Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, hundreds of people filled the street from curb to curb, marching past famous landmarks of the film centre. Others gathered outside Los Angeles Police Department headquarters downtown, in some cases hugging and shaking hands with a line of officers outside.
Los Angeles was the scene of violent riots in the spring of 1992, following the acquittal of four policemen charged in the beating of black motorist Rodney King, which saw more than 60 people killed and an estimated $1 billion in damage.
A majority of Americans sympathize with the protests, according to a Reuters/ipsos poll released on Tuesday.
The survey conducted on Monday and Tuesday found 64 per cent of American adults were “sympathetic to people who are out protesting right now,” while 27 per cent said they were not and 9 per cent were unsure.
More than 55 per cent of Americans said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the protests.
In Minneapolis, Roxie Washington, mother of Floyd’s six-year-old daughter Gianna, told a news conference he was a good man.
“I want everybody to know that this is what those officers took from me.,” she said, sobbing. “Gianna does not have a father. He will never see her grow up, graduate.”
Floyd died after a white policeman pinned his neck under his knee for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis on May 25.
The officer, 44-year-old Derek Chauvin, has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other officers involved were fired but not yet charged.
On Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said the state had opened a civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department, looking at the past 10 years.
“We’re not going to restore peace on our streets by having a bigger group of National Guard show up. We’re not going to establish peace on our streets by keeping a curfew in place all the time,” Walz said.
“We’re going to establish peace on our streets when we address the systemic issues that caused it in the first place.”
Trump has threatened to use the military to battle violence that has erupted nightly, often after a day of peaceful protests.
He has derided local authorities, including state governors, for their response to the disturbances.
On Monday night, demonstrators smashed windows and looted luxury stores on tony Fifth Avenue in New York, and set fire to a Los Angeles strip mall. Lawmakers and law enforcement officials seemed taken aback by the extent of mayhem.
Four police officers were shot in St. Louis and one in Las Vegas who was critically wounded, authorities said.
Officers were injured in clashes elsewhere, including one who was in critical condition after being hit by a car in the Bronx, police said.
Critics accuse Trump, who is seeking re-election on Nov. 3, of further stoking conflict and racial tension rather than seeking to bring the country together and address the underlying issues.
“President Trump is right to be focused on law and order. He wasn’t hired to be the consoler-in-chief,” said Jason Miller, who advised the Republican Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden pledged in a speech on Tuesday to try to heal the racial divide in America and blasted Trump’s response to the protests.