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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/31/politics/joe-biden-delaware-protests/index.html


Mayor Bill de Blasio | Andrew Burton/Getty Images

NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday blamed an organized group of anarchists for inciting violence and vandalism amid protests over the killing of George Floyd, but conceded some were from the city and the neighborhoods where demonstrations were happening — a shift from his message Saturday night.

“Some come from outside the city. Some are from inside the city,” he said. “Some are from the neighborhoods where the protests take place, some are not. But what we do know is there is an explicit agenda of violence and it does not conform with the history of this city in which we have always honored non-violent protests.”

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Only hours before, on Saturday night, the mayor insisted the threat of violence was coming from “out of town” demonstrators, many of whom are “not from communities of color” and have a “warped ideology” that leads them to “harming working people who are police officers.”

De Blasio, who first came to office with a promise of police reform, has ardently defended the NYPD during the recent protests and insisted officers were exercising great restraint in the face of threats from demonstrators bent on attacking cops. He’s faced fierce backlash from criminal justice advocates and members of his own party.

“@NYCMayor your comments tonight were unacceptable,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted early Sunday morning. “Defending and making excuses for NYPD running SUVs into crowds was wrong. Make it right. De-escalate.”

Police officers drove through a barricade into throngs of protesters in Brooklyn Saturday evening. Video of the incident, which quickly went viral, shows demonstrators throwing cones, garbage bags and water bottles at the NYPD vehicles before they plowed into the crowds.

The mayor insisted again Sunday the officers were reacting to a dangerous situation caused by threats of violence.

“We’re going to fully investigate that incident,” the mayor said Sunday. “I don’t ever want to see a police officer do that. … But I also know that it was an extremely dangerous situation and the one thing [police] couldn’t do was stay there.”

“There are protests, and there are mobs,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea added later in the conference. “A protest does not involve surrounding and ambushing a marked police car.”

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, speaking in a separate press conference that morning, criticized the mayor’s earlier remarks to the incident as “a terrible response.”

“We can’t have police officers who haven’t been trained on how to handle a panicked situation and are handling it through plowing protesters,” he said. “That’s not something we can accept.”

The mayor announced he was appointing his corporation counsel, Jim Johnson, and Department of Investigation Commissioner Margaret Garnett to conduct a full investigation into the police response to protests which began late last week and will continue Sunday night.

Shea said multiple officers were injured in skirmishes over the weekend and close to 350 arrests were made — but aside from property damage, police said no serious injuries or fatalities have occurred.

De Blasio praised Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s remarks from Saturday morning, in which he said he would sign legislation updating New York’s 50-a law, criticized by criminal justice advocates who say it shields too much information relating to police disciplinary records.

The de Blasio administration had previously cited the law when groups and officials across New York City pushed for the records of former officer Daniel Pantaleo, who fatally placed Staten Islander Eric Garner into a chokehold in 2014.

“I have said we need to repeal and replace, I want to be abundantly clear,” de Blasio said Sunday. “There must be some provision in the law to protect the personal information, the home address, the type of information about an individual police officer that is about their safety and security.”

De Blasio said Sunday he hoped Cuomo would sign such legislation in June.

Footage from Minneapolis of Floyd’s death, whose final words were “I can’t breathe” as a police officer knelt on his neck, has drawn parallels to Garner’s death in Staten Island as he gasped the same words.

“I think that when you look at something as terrible as that incident, what could come out of it?” said Shea of footage of Floyd, who was apprehended while unarmed for allegedly using counterfeit money to buy cigarettes. “Hopefully something does come out of it.”

“Whether it’s law enforcement or not, there is universal condemnation … to what we saw in that video,” he said.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/05/31/de-blasio-now-says-some-anarchist-protesters-are-local-amid-continued-defense-of-nypd-1289520

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Source Article from https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/05/george-floyd-protests-anger-american-streets-violence.html

President Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. government will designate the far-left group Antifa as a terrorist organization.

This comes as Trump has blamed Antifa for riots taking place across the country in response to the death of George Floyd, the unarmed black man who died May 25 while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minn., after an officer kneeled on his neck for more than 8 minutes in an incident caught on video.

WHITE HOUSE DOWNPLAYS MINNESOTA CLAIMS OF FAR-RIGHT ROLE IN RIOTS, IN DISPUTE OVER WHO’S FUELING VIOLENCE

“The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization,” Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon.

It remains unclear exactly who was behind the escalation what began as peaceful protests against police, with accusations lobbed against both far-left extremists and white nationalists. The president has been forceful in pointing the finger at the former.

“It’s ANTIFA and the Radical Left. Don’t lay the blame on others!” Trump tweeted Saturday.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was less decisive in stating who is behind the looting, arson, and violence that has taken place. While he called rioters “Antifa-like” during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” he said, “I think it still remains to be seen exactly how” the situation devolved from peaceful protests to something entirely different.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told “Fox News Sunday” he has evidence that people from out-of-state were involved in violent behavior in Minneapolis, but he did not specify whether they were affiliated with any particular group or ideology.

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A resolution to designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization was introduced in the Senate in 2019, stating that Antifa “represents opposition to the democratic ideals of peaceful assembly and free speech for all[.]”

The measure, sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas,  came in response to threats and actions Antifa-affiliated individuals made against ICE officials and journalist Andy Ngo.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-announces-u-s-to-designate-antifa-as-terrorist-organization-following-violent-protests

UPDATE: Los Angeles County has moved up Sunday’s countywide curfew from 8PM to 6PM.

 

PREVIOUS: The city of Santa Monica will shut down for a second night of curfew starting at 4 PM today through 5:30 AM on Monday morning.

The city’s official Twitter account made the announcement. All Interstate 10 freeway ramps into the city will be shuttered, as will Pacific Coast Highway off-ramps. The tweet also warned, “Stay out of downtown Santa Monica” and referred readers to the official city website.

The move by the beach community comes as Los Angeles continues its curfew starting at 8 PM tonight. West Hollywood is also under a curfew.

Earlier, Santa Monica officials said there was quiet in its community on Saturday night as protests roiled communities to its East.

“Our community remained largely peaceful and safe throughout the evening,” a city statement said early Sunday. “With the initiation of the curfew last night, our Santa Monica Police Department was present across all areas of our city. The Department responded immediately to one commercial burglary and to one broken window at a business. No arrests were made for violations of the curfew order.”

Source Article from https://deadline.com/2020/05/santa-monica-curfew-imposed-highway-ramps-shut-down-1202947815/


Mayor Bill de Blasio | Andrew Burton/Getty Images

NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday blamed an organized group of anarchists for inciting violence and vandalism amid protests over the killing of George Floyd, but conceded some were from the city and the neighborhoods where demonstrations were happening — a shift from his message Saturday night.

“Some come from outside the city. Some are from inside the city,” he said. “Some are from the neighborhoods where the protests take place, some are not. But what we do know is there is an explicit agenda of violence and it does not conform with the history of this city in which we have always honored non-violent protests.”

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Only hours before, on Saturday night, the mayor insisted the threat of violence was coming from “out of town” demonstrators, many of whom are “not from communities of color” and have a “warped ideology” that leads them to “harming working people who are police officers.”

De Blasio, who first came to office with a promise of police reform, has ardently defended the NYPD during the recent protests and insisted officers were exercising great restraint in the face of threats from demonstrators bent on attacking cops. He’s faced fierce backlash from criminal justice advocates and members of his own party.

“@NYCMayor your comments tonight were unacceptable,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted early Sunday morning. “Defending and making excuses for NYPD running SUVs into crowds was wrong. Make it right. De-escalate.”

Police officers drove through a barricade into throngs of protesters in Brooklyn Saturday evening. Video of the incident, which quickly went viral, shows demonstrators throwing cones, garbage bags and water bottles at the NYPD vehicles before they plowed into the crowds.

The mayor insisted again Sunday the officers were reacting to a dangerous situation caused by threats of violence.

“We’re going to fully investigate that incident,” the mayor said Sunday. “I don’t ever want to see a police officer do that. … But I also know that it was an extremely dangerous situation and the one thing [police] couldn’t do was stay there.”

“There are protests, and there are mobs,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea added later in the conference. “A protest does not involve surrounding and ambushing a marked police car.”

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, speaking in a separate press conference that morning, criticized the mayor’s earlier remarks to the incident as “a terrible response.”

“We can’t have police officers who haven’t been trained on how to handle a panicked situation and are handling it through plowing protesters,” he said. “That’s not something we can accept.”

The mayor announced he was appointing his corporation counsel, Jim Johnson, and Department of Investigation Commissioner Margaret Garnett to conduct a full investigation into the police response to protests which began late last week and will continue Sunday night.

Shea said multiple officers were injured in skirmishes over the weekend and close to 350 arrests were made — but aside from property damage, police said no serious injuries or fatalities have occurred.

De Blasio praised Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s remarks from Saturday morning, in which he said he would sign legislation updating New York’s 50-a law, criticized by criminal justice advocates who say it shields too much information relating to police disciplinary records.

The de Blasio administration had previously cited the law when groups and officials across New York City pushed for the records of former officer Daniel Pantaleo, who fatally placed Staten Islander Eric Garner into a chokehold in 2014.

“I have said we need to repeal and replace, I want to be abundantly clear,” de Blasio said Sunday. “There must be some provision in the law to protect the personal information, the home address, the type of information about an individual police officer that is about their safety and security.”

De Blasio said Sunday he hoped Cuomo would sign such legislation in June.

Footage from Minneapolis of Floyd’s death, whose final words were “I can’t breathe” as a police officer knelt on his neck, has drawn parallels to Garner’s death in Staten Island as he gasped the same words.

“I think that when you look at something as terrible as that incident, what could come out of it?” said Shea of footage of Floyd, who was apprehended while unarmed for allegedly using counterfeit money to buy cigarettes. “Hopefully something does come out of it.”

“Whether it’s law enforcement or not, there is universal condemnation … to what we saw in that video,” he said.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/05/31/de-blasio-now-says-some-anarchist-protesters-are-local-amid-continued-defense-of-nypd-1289520

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump claimed that many Secret Service agents were “just waiting for action” and ready to unleash “the most vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons, I have ever seen” if protesters angered by his response to George Floyd’s death had crossed the White House’s security fence.

In a series of tweets hours after hundreds of demonstrators had massed outside the White House and scraped with officers in riot gear, Trump belittled them, doubted their allegiance to Floyd’s memory, said they were “professionally managed.” He offered no evidence to back his assertion, and the president even seemed to invite supporters to make their presence felt: “Tonight, I understand, is MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE???”

Trump later rejected the suggestion that he was stoking a potential conflict between protesters and his supporters: “I was just asking. But I have no idea if they are going to be here,” he said. “MAGA is Make America Great Again. By the way, they love African American people. They love black people.”

Trump said he had “watched every move” from inside the executive mansion and “couldn’t have felt more safe” as the Secret Service let the protesters carry on, “but whenever someone … got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on then, hard — didn’t know what hit them.”

 
The president also criticized the mayors of Washington and Minneapolis.

Trump said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey “is probably a very good person, but he’s a radical, left mayor.” He then described how he watched as a police station in the city was overrun. “For that police station to be abandoned and taken over, I’ve never seen anything so horrible and stupid in my life,” Trump said when speaking briefly to reporters at the White House.

He said Minnesota officials have to get tougher with rioters, and that by doing so they would be honoring the memory of Floyd.

The Secret Service said in a statement Saturday that six protesters were arrested and “multiple” officers were injured. There were no details on the charges or nature of the injuries. A spokesman for U.S. Park Police said their officers made no arrests, but several suffered minor injuries and one was taken to a hospital after being struck in the helmet by a projectile.

Floyd is the black man who was being held in handcuffs when he died Monday in Minneapolis after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air. Protests have erupted in U.S. cities in the days since.

Trump’s reference to “vicious dogs” potentially being sicced on protesters revisits images from the civil rights movement when marchers faced snarling police dogs and high-pressure fire hoses.

In a press conference Saturday afternoon, Muriel Bowser, mayor of the nation’s capital, called Trump’s remark’s “gross” and said the reference to attack dogs conjures up with the worst memories of the nation’s fight against segregation.

“I call upon our city and our nation to exercise restraint, great restraint, even as the president tries to divide us,” she said. “I feel like these comments are an attack on humanity, an attack on black America, and they make my city less safe.”

In contrast with the president’s tweets, the Secret Service said it “respects the right to assemble and we ask that individuals do so peacefully for the safety of all.”

Trump’s tweets came hours before left for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to take another crack at witnessing the first launch on American soil in nearly a decade of astronauts into space. He visited Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, but the launch had to be canceled because of the weather.

In protests that stretched past midnight, people hurled pieces of bricks, bottles and other objects at Secret Service and Park Police officers who were in riot gear behind barricades around the White House. Protesters at times kicked and punched officers and wrestled over the barricades.

The crowd of hundreds chanted “No justice, no peace” and “Say his name: George Floyd.”

As some in the crowd grew more aggressive, police deployed pepper spray to keep them back and maintain a perimeter of officers around the White House. Fellow demonstrators came to the aid of protesters who were sprayed, their eyes red and puffy, offering bottles of milk and water to splash on their faces.

By the end of the night, the protesters had stolen about 15 barricades and left police to form a line of officers holding riot shields to keep back the swelling crowd. At one point, the protesters were able to gain control of an officer’s shield and set it ablaze before trying to toss it back at the line of officers. Police used a smoke device to quickly stop them.

The protest went on for hours before police declared the gathering “unlawful” and ordered everyone to leave Lafayette Square, a seven-acre public park located directly north of the White House. Dozens of officers pushed forward with their shields and fired off streams of pepper spray at protesters.

“Out of the park or you will be sprayed,” an officer shouted at the crowd.

As the officers continued to push forward through the park, some protesters broke the bricks from the pavement and hurled chunks at the officers.

On Thursday, as violence broke out in Minneapolis, Trump tweeted, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Trump later said his comments had been misconstrued. “Frankly it means when there’s looting, people get shot and they die,” he said.

Source Article from https://www.snopes.com/ap/2020/05/30/trump-claims-protesters-in-dc-risked-facing-vicious-dogs/

A boarded-up Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The Grove, one of the city’s premier dining and retail centers, staggering with several stores looted. National Guard troops deployed in the streets, and an entire police department mobilized for the first time in 25 years.

That’s what Los Angeles woke up to this morning, as an overnight curfew attempted to quell the mob rule that dominated most of Saturday. The protests marked the fourth straight day of activity, and there is little to indicate that passions and violence will cool over the next few days.

For a fragile city that is still in an economic recovery from the two-month shutdown of business by the pandemic, Friday and Saturday’s arson, looting, and general chaos is a blow that will make it that much tougher for Los Angeles to revive.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti held a press conference at 4 PM on Saturday offering a velvet hand out to protesters, expressing hopes that everyone would simply stop any violent actions. He pooh-poohed the idea of bringing in the National Guard, saying that’s not what the city is about. He also limited the curfew he instituted to the downtown area, despite a massive gathering already brewing in midtown, where a police car had been burned and other police vehicles were damaged.

Hours later, Garcetti was begging Governor Gavin Newsom to send troops and declaring a state of emergency.

AP Images

Garcetti’s misread of the city’s street situation and the mood as the protests devolved was just one step along the way toward Saturday night’s chaos. Police were stretched, having to cover looting activities across the span of the city. More than 550 people were arrested on Friday in downtown’s protest activities, and although no officials totals for Saturday have been released, it’s likely at least several hundred people were detained on Saturday.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore, who earlier in the week issued a YouTube video saying he welcomed protests, spoke to the Los Angeles Times from the ransacked Nordstrom’s store at the Grove.

“This is not the solution,” he said. “We haven’t given up on L.A., and L.A. shouldn’t give up on itself. We can pull around this…Policing doesn’t fix these kinds of societal problems. I need all of L.A. to step up right now and be part of the solution.”

Source Article from https://deadline.com/2020/05/los-angeles-awakens-ater-day-of-chaos-on-streets-1202947609/

The governor of Minnesota has said that he was “fully” mobilizing the National Guard for the first time in the state’s history following the aftermath of violent protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer.

During a press conference Saturday, Gov. Tim Walz told reporters that the worsening violence in Minneapolis was “no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd.

“It is about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great cities,” he said.

In announcing the drastic security move, Walz said: “There is no mayor in America that has the resources to push back against an organized attempt to destabilize civil society with no regard for life or property.

“I am authorizing… to fully mobilize the Minnesota National Guard, an action that has never been taken in the 164-year history of the Minnesota National Guard. We will pull in assets as we have been doing.

“By this afternoon our hope is to exponentially have that force out there,” he said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Minnesota National Guard had tweeted that it was activating more than 1,000 additional personnel today, in addition to the 700 citizen soldiers and airmen who had been on duty.

Derek Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death with Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman saying that charges for three other officers who were fired over Floyd’s death are also expected.

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Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/minneapolis-tim-walz-minnesota-riots-1507587

Growing civil unrest, riots and protests are raising the possibility of a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, city and state officials warned, as the violence and public gatherings intensified into Sunday morning.

Thousands have gathered across multiple states to demonstrate following the death of George Floyd, who died after a police officer put his knee on his neck while arresting him in Minneapolis.

According to an Associated Press tally, nearly 1,400 arrests have been made across the nation during the demonstrations, amid concerns some are attending the protests not to demonstrate but as a springboard for violent actions. Clashes have broken out with police using tear gas and rubber bullets against the crowds.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who had encouraged those involved to go home, on Saturday evening, said: “If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a COVID test this week. There is still a pandemic in America that’s killing black and brown people at higher numbers.”

In Minneapolis, where protests were first held near to the scene of Floyd’s arrest, there had previously been warnings the gatherings could prompt further coronavirus cases.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey spoke of there being “two crises that are sandwiched on top of one another,” as he spoke of peaceful protests earlier in the week changing as people from outside of the city coming to join the gathering, stating they had created a shift to violence.

Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm told reporters earlier this week: “I’m understanding the forecast is for very large protests this weekend, with a lot of people coming in from across the state and around the country and gathering in large groups.

“That’s almost sure to have an impact on furthering spread.

“As we know, large gatherings do pose a risk in any epidemic, but certainly where we stand today with the state of COVID-19 spread in our community. Knowing that we have community spread, we just want to again encourage folks who gather to be mindful of the risk.”

In a statement released by the Minnesota Health Department, she urged people “to take steps to limit the risk of COVID-19 spread.”

“This is essential not only to protect themselves but also to protect their loved ones and the larger community. This includes wearing masks when in public and maintaining social distancing as much as possible,” she said. The death toll linked to coronavirus in Minnesota topped 1,000 according to figures on Saturday, while the tally of confirmed cases hit 21,490.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also raised concern over the potential spread at protests, addressing an absence of face masks among some of those gathered.

“You have a right to demonstrate, you have a right to protest—God bless America,” he said Saturday. “You don’t have a right to infect other people. You don’t have a right to act in a way that’s going to jeopardize public health.”

As states across the U.S. lift lockdown measures, concerns have been raised that COVID-19 cases could again spike as communities return to normality.

Guidance for people to wear masks and to maintain social distancing has been issued in order to try and stem the potential spread.

Newsweek has contacted the Minnesota Health Department, the New York Governor’s office and the Atlanta Mayor’s office for comment.

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Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/george-floyd-protests-coronavirus-spread-concern-1507639

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the New York City Police Department after a pair of the force’s SUVs drove into a crowd during Saturday’s protest against George Floyd’s death.

De Blasio reacted after videos were posted to social media, which showed protestors moving a yellow barrier in front a police vehicle in Brooklyn. Protestors threw traffic cones and other items at the SUV as a second vehicle arrived and slowly drove through the crowd forming around it.

The first vehicle then drove into the barricade at a higher speed, sending people sprawling. Multiple city officials told NBC News there were no injuries as a result of the incident.

In a news conference late Saturday, de Blasio called the video “upsetting,” but said protestors were wrong to surround the SUVs.

“It is inappropriate for protestors to surround a police vehicle and threaten police officers,” he said. “That’s wrong on its face and that hasn’t happened in the history of protests in this city.”

He added that it was “clear that a different element has come into play here who are trying to hurt police officers and trying to damage their vehicles.”

While he wished the officers had not driven into the crowd, de Blasio said he “understood they didn’t start the situation,” which he said was “started by a group of protesters converging on a police vehicle.”

However, on Sunday morning, de Blasio had clarified his comments about the video, saying he didn’t like what he saw “one bit.”

“I did not want to ever see something like that I don’t want to ever see it again,” de Blasio said during a Sunday press conference. “And clearly, we need to do a full investigation and look at the actions of those officers and see what was done and why it was done and what could be done differently.”

The mayor said an independent review into the video would be led by Corporation Counsel James Johnson and NYC Department of Investigation Commissioner Margaret Garnett and their findings would be concluded in June.

De Blasio, a Democrat, has had a troubled relationship with the NYPD, particularly rank-and-file officers. In February, police leaders and unions lashed out at the mayor after a gunman attempted to assassinate one office and injured another.

Edward D. Mullins, the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, tweeted in February that members of the NYPD were “declaring war” on him.

Last August, the union declared it had “no confidence” in de Blasio, after it claimed that he had “unlawfully interfered” in the firing of Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who was seen on video using a chokehold during Eric Garner’s deadly arrest five years ago.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused de Blasio of “making excuses” for the NYPD.

“As mayor, this police department is under your leadership,” the Democrat congresswoman tweeted early Sunday. “This moment demands leadership and accountability from each of us. Defending and making excuses for NYPD running SUVs into crowds was wrong.”

The force posted a clip from de Blasio’s news conference of him defending the videos, on its NYPD News Twitter feed.

A senior police official told NBC News that the NYPD had seen the video and been told by “multiple law enforcement officials” that @the vehicle was hit with rocks, bottles, and someone through a lit trash bag on top of the SUV.”

They added that the officers “decided to push the barrier into the crowd instead of confronting the protestors outside the car.”

Officers were concerned they would run over someone if they backed up, they said.

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-york-mayor-bill-de-blasio-defends-police-after-video-n1220246

The unrest has since spread across the country, with protests, some violent, erupting in cities including Washington DC, Atlanta, Phoenix, Denver and Los Angelas.

Follow updates about protests over George Floyd’s death on the NBC News live blog.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ordered 500 of his National Guard troops into Minneapolis, St. Paul, and surrounding communities.

But a Pentagon spokesman said Walz did not ask for the Army to be deployed to his state.

“The Department has been in touch with the Governor and there is no request for Title 10 forces to support the Minnesota National Guard or state law enforcement.” Title 10 is the U.S. law that governs the armed forces, and would authorize active duty military to operate within the U.S.

Alyssa Farah, the White House director of strategic communications said the deployment of active-duty military police is untrue.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/30/pentagon-puts-military-police-on-alert-to-go-to-minneapolis.html

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Newark Saturday afternoon to protest the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis and to help bring attention to police brutality and other social issues.

The protest, organized by the People’s Organization for Progress, started as a rally in front of the Lincoln statue near the city’s historic courthouse, with demonstrators loudly chanting “George Floyd,” “I can’t breathe,” “Power to the people” and calls for justice for Floyd.

“Arrest them all! Arrest them all!” the crowd chanted, referring to the four Minneapolis police officers who were seen on video during the apprehension of Floyd.

The protest remained peaceful as demonstrators began to march down Market Street and onto Broad Street, with hundreds of additional people joining the original group of marchers. Most walked on the hot pavement past Newark City Hall and then headed back to Market Street, where they gathered again near the statue of a seated Abraham Lincoln at about 2:30 p.m. and chanted, “Black lives matter.”

Police presence was light, with just a few police cruisers blocking streets to keep vehicles away from the demonstrators, many carrying signs reading “I Can’t Breathe” and “Black Lives Matter.” Other signs were critical of cops and some railed against white supremacy.

The orderly demonstration in Newark was in sharp contrast to the violent protests, riots and looting that broke out in other cities across the nation during the past two nights. Protesters in other cities clashed with police, set fire to police cars and other vehicles, and torched businesses.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died Monday after Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck for several minutes while Floyd was handcuffed. Floyd, who was not armed and did not appear to be resisting arrest, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Four police officers who were at the scene have been fired, and Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the case.

Prior to the demonstration in Newark, Mayor Ras Baraka called Floyd’s death outright murder, and demanded that all the officers involved be arrested.

“He was killed on purpose and murdered on purpose,” Baraka said.

The People’s Organization for Progress was formed to help eradicate racism and take on relevant social issues.

Demonstrators gathered in Newark Saturday afternoon to protest the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis and to call for an end to police brutality.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com.

Source Article from https://www.nj.com/news/2020/05/george-floyd-police-brutality-protest-starts-peacefully-in-newark-with-chants-of-i-cant-breathe.html

As anger over the death of George Floyd spreads into violence, fires and curfews across America tonight, Joe Biden asked “a nation furious at injustice” for calmer minds and hearts to prevail.

“Protesting such brutality is right and necessary,” the Democrats’ presumptive nominee said in a statement late Saturday as LA, DC, Chicago, NYC and other cities experienced rioting, looting and fires after another day of protests of Floyd’s “horrific” death.

“It’s an utterly American response,” the former Vice-President added of the death of another black man in police custody. “But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not.” (READ THE FULL BIDEN STATEMENT BELOW)

While his expected rival at the ballot box empathetically spoke to Americans for the second day in a row over the May 25 death of Floyd from a now murder charged ex-Minneapolis cop, Donald Trump stayed silent (even on Twitter) in the White House.

“I know that there are people all across this country who are suffering tonight,” Biden also said as cable TV followed once peaceful protests turning sour in the night amidst heavy police reaction and local officials trying to shut things down.

“Suffering the loss of a loved one to intolerable circumstances, like the Floyd family, or to the virus that is still gripping our nation,” the candidate noted of an America that has suffered the loss of more than 100,000 of its citizens from the coronavirus. “Suffering economic hardships, whether due to COVID-19 or entrenched inequalities in our system,” Biden stated. “And I know that a grief that dark and deep may at times feel too heavy to bear.”

As for Trump, the former Celebrity Apprentice host’s only comments on Saturday evening on Floyd’s death and the consequences of the fatality was to lash out at Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in a partisan tweet:

It will be a long night.

READ THE FULL STATEMENT FROM JOE BIDEN TONIGHT HERE:

These last few days have laid bare that we are a nation furious at injustice. Every person of conscience can understand the rawness of the trauma people of color experience in this country, from the daily indignities to the extreme violence, like the horrific killing of George Floyd.

Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not.

The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest. It should not drive people away from the just cause that protest is meant to advance.

I know that there are people all across this country who are suffering tonight. Suffering the loss of a loved one to intolerable circumstances, like the Floyd family, or to the virus that is still gripping our nation. Suffering economic hardships, whether due to COVID-19 or entrenched inequalities in our system. And I know that a grief that dark and deep may at times feel too heavy to bear.

I know.

And I also know that the only way to bear it is to turn all that anguish to purpose. So tonight, I ask all of America to join me — not in denying our pain or covering it over — but using it to compel our nation across this turbulent threshold into the next phase of progress, inclusion, and opportunity for our great democracy.

We are a nation in pain, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us. We are a nation enraged, but we cannot allow our rage to consume us. We are a nation exhausted, but we will not allow our exhaustion to defeat us.

As President, I will help lead this conversation — and more importantly, I will listen. I will keep the commitment I made to George’s brother, Philonise, that George will not just be a hashtag. We must and will get to a place where everyone, regardless of race, believes that “to protect and serve” means to protect and serve them. Only by standing together will we rise stronger than before. More equal, more just, more hopeful — and that much closer to our more perfect union.

Please stay safe. Please take care of each other.

Source Article from https://deadline.com/2020/05/george-floyd-protests-joe-biden-statement-violence-curfews-donald-trump-silent-1202947533/

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a citywide curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. after four nights of violent protests. Garcetti said the National Guard would not be deployed. “This is not 1992,” he said, referring to the Rodney King riots.

Source Article from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXsbQUadxGw