For the third consecutive day, various cities in the US witnessed violent protests. Despite the fact that curfew has been imposed in about 25 cities across the nation, public health officials are worried that these protests with scant regard for social distancing may increased the number of COVID-19 cases in a nation that is globally the worst affected till date.
The protests raged across not just Minneapolis but has also spread to Washington DC, New York and Los Angeles.
Also Read: Minneapolis case: Civil unrest spreads across US as Trump threatens firm action
The protests that began peacefully, descended into complete violence with police vehicles being smashed, law enforcement officers being attacked and shops being looted.
The trigger for these attacks is the killing of George Floyd, a non-white man by a White Police officer named Derek Chauvin. The latter pressed his knee against the neck of the victim who kept mumbling “I can’t breathe”. He finally died because of this. The Police officer has been charged with Second degree murder and third-degree manslaughter.
The protesters have highlighted that it was years of pent up grievances that are giving way to this violence across the nations.
….have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least. Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. “We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2020
President Donald Trump who had tweeted on Friday that “when looting begins, firing begins” mocked the protesters once again by tweeting that if the protesters breached the White House security perimeter, then they would be “greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen”.
Minnesota has deployed state forces and is considering requesting the Federal government to send additional reinforcements.
More than 1400 people have been arrested in 16 cities for rioting and 500 of these arrests have been in the city of Los Angeles itself.