Minneapolis - Another night of outrage
left stores looted and cars smoldering in many US cities on
Sunday as curfews failed to quell violence that replaced
peaceful daytime demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, who was seen on video gasping for breath as a white Minneapolis police
officer knelt on his neck.
In Salt Lake City, a man aimed a bow and arrow at protesters
and was attacked by the crowd. Fires burned in the streets of
Los Angeles. Protesters ripped apart an American flag in
Raleigh, North Carolina.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in many cities.
In New York City, police arrested about 350 people overnight
and 30 officers suffered minor injuries. Mayor Bill de Blasio
said police conduct was being investigated, including widely
shared videos showing a police sports utility vehicle in
Brooklyn lurching forward into a crowd of protesters who were
pelting the car with debris.
De Blasio said he had not seen another video showing an
officer pulling down the mask of a black protester who had his
hands in the air, then spraying a substance in his face.
The sight of protesters flooding streets fueled a sense of
crisis in the United States after weeks of lockdowns due to the
coronavirus pandemic, which has seen millions thrown out of work
and has disproportionately affected minority communities.
The closely packed crowds and many demonstrators not wearing
masks sparked fears of a resurgence of Covid-19, which has
killed more than 100,000 Americans.
Violence spread overnight despite curfews in several major
cities rocked by civil unrest in recent days, including Atlanta,
Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver, Cincinnati, Portland, Oregon,
and Louisville, Kentucky.
Protests also flared in Chicago, Seattle, Salt Lake City,
Cleveland, and Dallas, where rioters were seen on video beating
a store owner who chased them with a large machete or sword.
Police said on Sunday that the man was in a stable condition.
The clashes in Minneapolis marked the fifth night of arson,
looting and vandalism in parts of the state's largest city, and
its adjacent capital, St. Paul. The state's governor said on
Saturday that he was activating the full Minnesota National
Guard for the first time since World War Two.
About 170 stores have been looted and some burned to the
ground in St. Paul, its mayor said on Sunday.
"We are seeing in St. Paul and obviously around the country
this level of rage and anger that frankly is legitimate, as we
see this horrific video of George Floyd being just suffocated to
death," Mayor Melvin Carter told CNN. "Unfortunately, it's being
expressed right now, over the past week, in ways that are
destructive and unacceptable."
While covering the protests in Minneapolis on Saturday
night, two members of a Reuters TV crew were hit by rubber
bullets and a Reuters photographer's camera was smashed as
attacks against journalists covering civil unrest in U.S. cities
intensified.
In response to the protests, Target Corp announced
it was closing 100 stores, with about 30 in Minnesota.
The administration of President Donald Trump, who has called
protesters "thugs", will not federalize and take control of the
National Guard for now, national security adviser Robert O'Brien
said on Sunday.
Demands for an end to police brutality have spread globally.
A person holds up a Black Live Matters sign during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Trafalgar Square, London. Picture: John Sibley/Reuters
In London, hundreds of protesters took to Trafalgar Square
on Sunday chanting "no justice, no peace." On Saturday, a crowd
descended on the U.S. Embassy in Berlin calling for the police
officers to face justice.
The arrest on murder charges on Friday of Derek Chauvin, the
police officer seen kneeling on Floyd's neck, has failed to
satisfy protesters. Three officers who stood by as Floyd died
have yet to be charged.
Floyd's name is only the latest to be chanted by protesters
over the perceived lack of police accountability for violent
encounters that resulted in the death of black men.
The issue ignited in 2014 with the shooting death of a black
18-year-old, Michael Brown, by a white police officer in
Ferguson, Missouri, where police fired tear gas at protesters on
Saturday night.