Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TRUMP FANS THE FLAMES OF HATE
Officer on murder rap as he warns ‘when looting starts, shooting starts’
stormed the building told me the interior had been stripped bare and that fires were set on “every level”.
“F*** the police,” he said, giving his name only as TJ. “They no longer run this city. We do. We’re taking back what is ours and what they’ve taken from us. It’s George Floyd now, but who will it be next month? No longer are we going to be casualties.”
As the station burned, elsewhere demonstrators descended on the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fourth Precinct to the north-west.
Hundreds of police in body armour and riot gear were drafted in from across the state, joining the National Guard to line the streets in a bid to take back control.
Gone was the tear gas that filled Thursday night’s air. In its place was billowing black smoke and water from the hoses of countless fire engines. More than 170 businesses were damaged or looted, the city’s police department said yesterday.
Police had sparked global criticism after they arrested a CNN news crew live on-air leading the UK Foreign
Office to say journalists “must be free to do their job”. The channel’s Omar Jimenez, producer Bill Kirkos and photojournalist Leonel Mendez were held in Minneapolis at around 5am.
From New York City to Los Angeles, protesters have taken to the streets across the States demanding justice for Mr Floyd. At least seven people were shot in Louisville, Kentucky, as hundreds of protesters there converged on City Hall.
Mr Floyd was arrested after he allegedly used a fake $20 bill at a store in South Minneapolis on Monday. Surveillance video from outside a nearby restaurant appears to contradict police claims he resisted arrest.
Outrage grew after a video surfaced showing officer Chauvin kneeling on his neck for eight minutes during the arrest. Mr Floyd was unarmed and handcuffed, and pleaded he couldn’t breathe before he later died. More damning video emerged yesterday.
Trump had tweeted: “A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the city under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.
There THUGS are dishonouring George Floyd... Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”