A million join march on Trump’s doorstep
ONE million people were set to march in Washington DC last night as Black Lives Matter protests continued throughout the United States – and around the world.
President Donald Trump, who last week fled into a White House bunker after Black Lives Matter protesters came close to breaching the perimeter wall, turned the presidential home into a fortress, with new 9ft black fencing around the property.
Washington police chief Peter Newsham predicted that ‘this event could well be one of the largest we’ve ever had in DC’ as armed Secret Service police and troops with riot shields formed what a presidential spokeswoman called ‘an impenetrable ring’ around the White House.
Demonstrators took to the streets in US cities from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas and New York in what was expected to be the largest day of protests since the death of unarmed black man George Floyd after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes on May 25.
While rioting erupted in the days after the killing – leaving 12 dead and scores injured – protests in the past week have been largely peaceful.
Two police officers in Buffalo, New York, were last night arrested and charged with assault after shoving 75-year-old peace activist Martin Gugino to the ground, leaving him with severe head injuries.
The entire 57-strong Buffalo Police Department’s emergency response team resigned in protest over Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe being charged with crimes which, if convicted, could see them face up to seven years in jail.
Both officers have pleaded not guilty but prosecutor John Flynn said they had ‘crossed the line for pushing a harmless old man’.
In Fayetteville, North Carolina – where Mr Floyd was born – hundreds lined up last night to view his casket before his family held a private memorial service.
There will be another memorial for him tomorrow in Houston,
Texas, where he spent most of his life, and a final one in Houston on Tuesday, which former Vice President Joe Biden – Mr Trump’s opponent in November’s US Presidential election – will attend.
Huge crowds in cities around the globe turned out to march in solidarity against police brutality and racism yesterday.
In Australia, tens of thousands marched through the streets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane chanting Mr Floyd’s name and shouting: ‘No justice, no peace, no racist police.’
Marches also took place in the UK, France, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Brazil and Zimbabwe, with protesters holding signs saying ‘I can’t breathe’ – Mr Floyd’s final words to officer Derek Chauvin, 44, who has been charged with seconddegree murder and manslaughter and faces up to 40 years in jail.
Three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting seconddegree murder and manslaughter. All four are under 24-hour armed guard amid fears of reprisals.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knelt alongside protesters during a march in Ottawa and yelled ‘amen’ after a speaker called for ‘love and justice for all’. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel called Mr Floyd’s death ‘a murder’, adding: ‘It is racist but I trust in the power of democracy in the United States, that they are able to come through this difficult situation.’
Ghana President Nana AkufoAddo said he hoped ‘the tragic death of George Floyd will inspire a lasting change in how America and the world confronts the problems of hate and racism’.