Washington ablaze
Trump reportedly rushed to bunker as unrest began
Protesters in Washington started fires near the White House yesterday as tensions with police mounted during a third straight night of demonstrations held in response to the death of George Floyd at police hands in Minnesota.
An hour before the 11pm curfew, police fired a major barrage of teargas stun grenades into the crowd of more than 1000 people, largely clearing Lafayette Park across the street from the White House and scattering protesters into the street.
Protesters piled up road signs and plastic barriers and lit a raging fire in the middle of H Street. Some pulled an American flag from a nearby building and threw it into the blaze. Others added branches pulled from trees. A cinder block structure, on the north side of the park, that had bathrooms and a maintenance office, was engulfed in flames.
Several miles north, a separate protest broke out in Northwest D.C., near the Maryland border.
The Metropolitan Police Department says there were break-ins at a Target and a shopping centre that houses Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue Men’s Store, T.J. Maxx, a movie theatre and specialty stores. Police say several individuals have been detained.
Meanwhile it was disclosed Secret Service agents had rushed President Donald Trump to an underground bunker on Saturday as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House, some throwing rocks and tugging at police barricades just outside the executive mansion.
That’s according to a Republican close to the White House not authorised to publicly discuss private matters and confirmed by another official. The abrupt decision by the agents underscored the rattled mood inside the White House, where the chants from Lafayette Park could be heard all weekend and Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers struggled to contain the crowds.
The Saturday protests, triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer, turned violent and appeared to catch officers by surprise. It sparked one of the highest alerts on the White House complex since the September 11 attacks in 2001. In the days since, security at the White House has been reinforced by the National Guard and personnel from the Secret Service and the US Park Police.
Yesterday, the Justice Department also deployed members of the US Marshals Service and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration to supplement national guard troops outside the White House, according to a senior Justice Department official. The official could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Protests continued to rage around the US.
Officials in Minnesota said no protesters appeared to have been hit after a semitrailer drove into a crowd demonstrating on a freeway near downtown Minneapolis.
The Minnesota State Patrol said the incident was being investigated as a criminal matter. The patrol said the driver was injured and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Governor Tim Walz said the driver was out of the hospital and in police custody.
It wasn’t clear how the driver was hurt. TV footage showed protesters swarming the truck, and then law enforcement quickly moving in.
Other TV footage showed the tanker truck moving rapidly on to the bridge and protesters appearing to part ahead of it.
Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said traffic cameras appeared to show the truck was already on the freeway before barricades were put in place to shut it down at 5pm.
Meanwhile, Governor Walz said Attorney General Keith Ellison would take the lead in any prosecutions in the death of George Floyd.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman yesterday said he had asked Ellison to help in the prosecution. Freeman has been criticised by civil rights activists and some city officials, who say there is a history of mistrust between his office and members of the community.
Walz told reporters yesterday Ellison “needs to lead this case”.
He said he made the decision after speaking with Floyd’s family who “wanted to believe that there was a trust, and they wanted to believe that the facts would be heard”.