These cops love you, say the officers spurning rubber bullets and mace

As interactions with police in America go, it was the very opposite of the mace and rubber bullets witnessed this week.

In Flint, Michigan, protesters urged officers to take their side as they demonstrated against the police brutality that led to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.

One local sheriff took them up on the offer. “These cops love you … so you tell us what we need to do,” Sheriff Chris Swanson told the crowd. “Walk with us,” came the response. “Let’s go,” Sheriff Swanson said. “We’ll walk all night.”

As protests rage in cities spanning the country, encounters such as the one in Michigan have shone a light on the different tactics used by America’s police forces.

In Minneapolis, where the protests began after a white police officer was filmed pinning Mr Floyd to the ground until he became immobile, police initially chose not to engage with protesters. But, as violence and looting swept through the city, more than 4,000 National Guard members were mobilised and armoured vehicles were deployed to disperse the crowds.

Pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets and flash grenades were being used across the country as police wearing riot gear attempted to enforce the curfews imposed in dozens of US cities.

In Louisville, Kentucky, one man was killed after police officers and National Guard troops began firing into a crowd. The city’s police chief said the officers “were shot at [and] returned fire”.

Footage from New York City on Saturday night showed a police car ramming into a group of protesters that had surrounded it, throwing some to the floor. Bill de Blasio, the city’s mayor, stood by the officers, pointing out that some protesters had thrown water bottles and traffic cones.

But he condemned other police actions, including an officer seen pointing a gun at protesters. “That officer should have his gun and badge taken away today,” Mr de Blasio said.

Arthur Rizer, a former police officer and US army lieutenant colonel, told The Daily Telegraph the problems around police brutality stemmed from a lack of proper training.

Mr Rizer said: “We train police like they’re soldiers, and then we’re surprised when they act like soldiers. I never even heard the word deescalation in training.”

He added: “They don’t feel like the public is on their side. When the police feel like they’re at war with the people we’re supposed to be protecting, we’re in a bad place.”

But a series of videos have shown moments of solidarity as police officers join protesters by kneeling or marching alongside them.

In Minneapolis, peaceful protesters have dedicated the site of Mr Floyd’s killing as a “sacred space”, with a ring of flowers marking the spot where Derek Chauvin forced him to the ground.

Medaria Arradondo, the city’s police chief, joined residents at the spot saying he wanted to “offer a prayer for [Mr Floyd’s] loved ones, his family and our community that’s hurting”.

Mr Arradondo addressed the Floyd family directly, saying: “I am absolutely devastatingly sorry for their loss, and if I could do anything to bring Mr Floyd back I would move heaven and earth to do that.”

Meanwhile, in New York City, officers knelt alongside the protesters.

Back in Flint, Michigan, Sheriff Swanson told the crowd: “Don’t think for a second that [officer Chauvin] represents who these cops are from all over the county and around the nation.”