A little less than a week after the death of George Floyd, the tension in the United States does not drop, quite the contrary. Clashes between demonstrators and police shook Saturday evening several large cities of the country, placed under curfew to try to calm the anger which seized the country.
"There is so much anger"
In Minneapolis, where the 46-year-old African-American man died on Monday at the hands of police, officers in riot gear even charged protesters who defied the curfew, repelling them with smoke bombs and stun grenades. Shortly before, the demonstrators announced their determination to stay put. "They don't give us a choice, there is so much anger," said Deka Jama, a 24-year-old woman who came to "demand justice."
Clashes have also taken place in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Atlanta, leading officials from the latter two cities, as well as officials from Miami and Chicago, to announce a curfew.
Donald Trump does not seek appeasement
President Donald Trump did not go in the direction of appeasement. "We must not let a small group of criminals and vandals destroy our cities," he said, attributing the outbursts to "groups of the radical far left" and in particular "Antifa" (antifascists). Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, thus announced the mobilization of the 13,000 soldiers of the State National Guard, a first, and requested the assistance of the ministry of Defense. Military police units have been put on alert so that they can intervene in Minneapolis within four hours, the Pentagon said.
As of Friday evening, 2,500 police and National Guard soldiers and the imposition of a curfew had not prevented Minneapolis from igniting, with numerous lootings and arson. During the day, the inhabitants, armed with brooms, tried to give another image of their city. Minneapolis "hurts, burns," said 28-year-old Kyle Johnson. "All I can do is clean up."
The police officer charged
Protesters across the country denounced police blunders that hit blacks disproportionately. They want this time the police to be held accountable for the deadly arrest of George Floyd, whose harrowing images have been seen around the world. White policeman Derek Chauvin who, on this video, keeps his knee for long minutes on the neck of the forties, was arrested Friday and charged with "manslaughter". But for many Americans, it is not enough: they are demanding his indictment for intentional homicide and the arrest of the three other agents involved in the drama.
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