Protesters in peaceful push for change

Capitol, on the National Mall and in neighbourhoods. Some turned intersections into dance floors. Tents offered snacks and water, tables with merchandise and even a snow cone station.

One Washington protester, Pamela Reynolds, said she was seeking greater accountability for police.

‘‘The laws are protecting them,’’ said the 37-year-old African American teacher. Among the changes she’s seeking is a federal ban on police chokeholds and a requirement for police to wear body cameras.

Many groups headed toward the White House, which has been fortified with new fencing and extra security measures. Inside the presidential mansion, their chants and cheers could be heard in waves. President Donald Trump, who has ordered authorities to crack down on unrest, had no public events on his daily schedule.

The demonstrations extended to his golf resort in Doral, Florida, just outside Miami, where about 100 protesters gathered.

Elsewhere, the backdrops included some of the nation’s most famous cityscapes. Peaceful marchers filed across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. They walked along the boulevards of Hollywood and the street in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, famous for country music-themed bars and restaurants.

In Raeford, North Carolina, a small town near Floyd’s birthplace of Fayetteville, lined up outside a Free Will Baptist church, waiting to enter in small groups. At a private memorial service, at the front of the chapel was a large photo of Floyd and a portrait of him adorned with an angel’s wings and halo.

‘‘It could have been me. It could have been my brother, my father, any of my friends who are black,’’ said Erik Carlos of Fayetteville.

‘‘It was a heavy hit, especially knowing that George Floyd was born near my hometown. It made me feel very vulnerable at first.’’

In Minneapolis, city officials have agreed to ban chokeholds and neck restraints by police and to require officers to try to stop any other officers they see using improper force. California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the state’s police-training programme to stop teaching officers how to use a neck hold that blocks the flow of blood to the brain. The police chief in Bellevue, across the water from Seattle, largely banned officers from using neck restraints, while police in Reno, Nevada’s second-largest city, also updated their use-of-force policy. – AP