Demonstrators attend a "sit out the
curfew" protest against the death of George Floyd whilst in police
custody in Oakland, California on June 3, 2020. PHOTO | PHILIP PACHECO |
AFP
Washington
Protesters
defied curfews across the United States Tuesday as leaders scrambled to
stem anger over police racism while President Donald Trump rejected
criticism over his use of force to break up a peaceful rally.
Standoffs
between police and demonstrators stretched into the night in cities
from New York to Los Angeles over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed
African-American man whose killing has brought once-in-a-generation
protests to the nation for the past week.
But there were fewer reports of the looting and violence that had soured street demonstrations in previous nights.
Tens
of thousands gathered earlier in Houston to pay a hometown tribute to
Floyd, who grew up in the Texas city and is to be buried there next
week.
"Today is... about George Floyd's
family -- we want them to know that George did not die in vain," Mayor
Sylvester Turner told an estimated 60,000 people.
A tearful Roxie Washington, the mother of
Floyd's six-year-old daughter, told a news conference she wanted
"justice for him because he was good.
"No matter what anybody thinks, he was good."
In
New York, which on Tuesday prolonged its first curfew since World War
II for the full week, reporters saw hundreds refusing to go home after
the 8:00 pm cutoff, instead chanting slogans and peacefully walking the
streets in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Protesters
attempting to cross the Manhattan bridge were pinned there for an
extended period by police on both sides, but were finally allowed to
return to Brooklyn, according to a New York Times reporter on the scene.
Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN it had been
"much calmer" a day after several Manhattan luxury stores were looted,
praising an increased and "vast presence" of police on the streets.
Minnesota
took one of the first concrete actions to address the grievances behind
the uprising, which began after Floyd's death on May 25 in the state's
largest city Minneapolis.
The
state launched a civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis Police
Department, looking at possible "systemic discriminatory practices"
going back 10 years, Governor Tim Walz tweeted.
Former
president George W. Bush called on the US to examine its "tragic
failures" and to "listen to the voices of so many who are hurting and
grieving."
And in Los Angeles, one of dozens
of cities hit by unrest, police officers and Mayor Eric Garcetti dropped
to their knees in a symbolic act of solidarity as they met marchers led
by African-American Christian groups.
"A
black face should not be a sentenced to die, nor to be homeless, nor to
be sick, nor to be underemployed, nor to be under-educated," Garcetti
told them, inviting the leaders into City Hall for a discussion about
the issues.
But
protesters gathered outside Garcetti's residence late into the evening.
An AFP reporter witnessed a group of at least 200 refusing to disperse
and subsequently arrested.
In Washington DC, thousands returned to the streets Tuesday for a peaceful "Black Lives Matter" march.
Hours
after the 7:00 pm curfew protesters could be heard chanting, as
National Guard troops stood on the streets near the White House and
helicopters hovered above. Broadcast footage showed police firing tear
gas shortly after midnight, but the situation appeared to be calm
overall.
"I'm just tired, essentially, of
being scared of police, of not getting justice," said Jada Wallace, an
18-year-old protester outside the White House earlier who said she was
ready to risk arrest.
In the same place on Monday, federal
police had abruptly opened tear gas and fired rubber bullets to break up
a non-violent protest, clearing a path for Trump to stroll outside for a
photo-op at a historic church damaged the previous night.
The move was loudly condemned by religious leaders, the president's political rivals, and onlookers around the country.
But
Trump, who has rejected the traditional presidential role of healer,
voiced glee on Twitter over the response in Washington and accused the
leadership of New York -- led by the rival Democratic Party -- of
succumbing to "Lowlife & Scum."
"Overwhelming force. Domination," he wrote, adding: "Washington, D.C., was the safest place on earth last night!"
He
pushed back against the criticism later on Twitter, writing: "You got
it wrong! If the protesters were so peaceful, why did they light the
Church on fire the night before? People liked my walk."
Joe Biden, Trump's presumptive Democratic
rival in November elections, denounced the crackdown as an abuse of
power and promised, if elected, to tackle the "systemic racism" in the
country.
"Donald Trump has turned this
country into a battlefield driven by old resentments and fresh fears,"
Biden said in a speech in Philadelphia, also hit by violence.
The
United States also faced unusual, if polite, criticism from some
international allies including Germany, Britain and Australia.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called the anti-racism protests "understandable and more than legitimate."
"I
hope that these peaceful protests won't slide further into violence,
but even more than that I hope that they will make a difference in the
United States," Maas told reporters.
A Las
Vegas officer was in "grave condition" after being shot during protests
overnight. An armed Hispanic man was shot and killed by police after
raising his gun in a separate, nearby incident.
Four officers were also shot overnight in St. Louis. None of the injuries was life-threatening.
But one retired St Louis police captain was shot dead early Tuesday outside a ransacked store.
Trump tweeted that David Dorn, who was black, was "viciously shot and killed by despicable looters.
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