Rioters run amok
Police station torched, violent clashes over death of black man
CHEERING protesters have torched a Minneapolis police station that the department was forced to abandon as three days of violent protests spread to nearby St Paul and angry demonstrations flared across the US over the death of George Floyd.
A police spokesman said staff had evacuated the Thiird Precinct station, the focus of many of the protests, “in the interest of the safety of our personnel”. Livestream video showed the protesters entering the building, where fire alarms blared and sprinklers ran as blazes were set.
Protesters could be seen setting fire to a Minneapolis Police Department jacket. The riots follow the death of Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer kneeled on his neck.
Late yesterday, President Donald Trump blasted the “total lack of leadership” in Minneapolis. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he posted on Twitter.
A visibly tired and frustrated Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey, made his first public appearance of the night at City Hall and took responsibility for evacuating the precinct, saying it had become too dangerous for officers there. As he continued, a reporter cut across loudly with a question: “What’s the plan here?” “With regard to?” Frey responded. Then he added: “There is a lot of pain and anger right now in our city. I understand that... What we have seen over the past several hours and past couple of nights here in terms of looting is unacceptable.”
He defended the city’s lack of engagement with looters - only a handful of arrests across the first two nights of violence - and said, “We are doing absolutely everything that we can to keep the peace.” He said National Guard members were being stationed in locations to help stem looting, including banks, grocery stores and pharmacies.
Governor Walz earlier activated the National Guard at the Minneapolis mayor’s request, but it wasn’t immediately clear when and where the Guard was being deployed, and none could be seen during protests in Minneapolis or St. Paul.