Protests and demonstrations against racism and police violence continued in the United States, despite clashes with the police and threats by President Donald Trump, determined to re-establish order, waving the use of the military.
Nine days after George Floyd was killed by suffocation under the knee of a white policeman who stopped him, the wave of historical protests continues without retreating, and protesters faced the police, especially in New York and Los Angeles, until late on the night of the day before yesterday, despite the curfew, with registration Fewer acts of looting and vandalism.
At least 60,000 people demonstrated peacefully, in honor of George Floyd in Houston, the city where he grew up in Texas, and where he will be buried next week.
"We want to know that George is not in vain," said city mayor Sylvester Turner.
In New York, many luxury shops on the famous Fifth Avenue were looted, and the hour of the start of the night curfew was brought to 20:00 and extended until next Sunday, but that did not prevent hundreds of black and white protesters alike, from protesting peacefully, and chanting In the words "George Floyd .. George Floyd" and "black lives matter" (Black Lives Mater), which is a slogan that has become a slogan to protest against police violence against African Americans.
In Los Angeles, the city's mayor, Eric Garcetti, with two policemen on one knee, knelt in a position symbolizing, since 2016, the condemnation of police violence against blacks, and recalled the policeman who killed Floyd pressing his knee on his neck for about nine minutes, and protesters gathered outside the headquarters His residence, where about 200 people were arrested after they refused the separation orders, according to an AFP correspondent.
In Washington, thousands demonstrated, including Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, defying the curfew announced by the municipality, while metal berms were set up around the White House to prevent any direct confrontation with the security forces in its vicinity.
Shortly after midnight, the television broadcast pictures showing the police firing tear gas, and in front of the White House, the protester Jada Wallace (18 years old) said: "I am tired of feeling afraid of the police and not getting justice."
In Minneapolis, the epicenter of the anger movement where Floyd was killed, calm was camped out, and Roxy Washington, mother of George Floyd's daughter, cried: "I want justice for him because he was kind, no matter how people thought, he was a good person."
The state of Minnesota has announced the first practical steps in response to requests, with an investigation into the Minneapolis police open, and the investigation will consider the possibility of "systematic discriminatory practices" over the past 10 years, according to a tweet written by Governor Tim Waltz.
The unrest spread a week ago, until more than 100 American cities spread, accompanied by thousands of arrests and several deaths.
Trump had announced, two days ago, that he had ordered the deployment of thousands of heavily armed soldiers and policemen in Washington, to stop the riots and looting, coinciding with the use of tear gas to disperse demonstrators near the White House, so that he could go on foot to an ancient church close to the White House. For acts of sabotage the day before, and to take a picture in front of it, carrying a Bible, in a move denounced by spiritual leaders of Protestants and Catholics, as an ethically unacceptable advertising process.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has protested against sending Americans on the streets of America against Americans, like many Democratic rulers.
The crisis is taking an increasingly political turn. And the Democratic candidate for the presidential elections, to be held on November 3, Joe Biden, accused Trump of "turning this country into a battlefield, filled with old hatreds and new concerns."
In the face of ongoing protests in light of the spread of the "Covid-19" epidemic, which exacerbated social and ethnic disparities, Trump has so far been silent about the problems that protesters complain of, and he only mentioned in passing in a "revolution" the circumstances of Floyd's killing.
On May 25, the 46-year-old was killed by suffocation, while repeating "I cannot breathe" and calling his mother, handcuffed, and a policeman kneeling on his neck to fix it on his knee, while his other three colleagues watched the scene without interfering, and confirmed two autopsies. The death was caused by pressure on the neck.
Metal screens around the White House to prevent any direct confrontation with the security forces in its vicinity.