• USA: One killed in Indianapolis by gunfire during racial protests while curfew is imposed in several cities

Dozens of cities in the United States, from north to south and from the Atlantic to the Pacific , have experienced violent riots tonight in protest at the death, on Monday, of George Floyd, the most recent case of police violence against African-Americans in the country. There are already two people killed during almost a week of uninterrupted protests to the cry of "I can't breathe!", The last words that Floyd pleaded with the policeman who arrested him.

The latest victim died last night in a shootout during the Indianapolis protests , while at least two others were shot, city police chief Randal Taylor told a news conference in statements collected by CNN. Authorities have not yet provided further details of what the shooting was like and have asked citizens to avoid the area of ​​the incidents. A day earlier, a 19-year-old boy was shot while participating in a march in Detroit.

Floyd, 46, died after being immobilized by a white policeman, already handcuffed, with his knee around his neck for several minutes, despite his pleas that he could not breathe, in a scene recorded by a passerby . The outrage at that event has been spreading from Minneapolis, where the incident occurred, to other cities.

Thirty cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, Dallas and even Washington DC , where the incidents arrived in front of the White House, were the scene of riots and confrontations between protesters and police this Saturday. In many of them the curfew has been decreed.

Trump threatens to activate the Army

US President Donald Trump spoke about the protests this morning and called the protesters "looters and anarchists." He promised "to end collective violence" and threatened to activate the Army "very quickly" to quell the revolts .

"I understand the pain that people feel. We support the right of peaceful protesters and listen to their pleas, but what we are seeing on the streets of our cities has nothing to do with justice or peace," he said in Florida, where attended the launch of a manned rocket towards the International Space Station (ISS), reports Efe.

"George Floyd's memory is dishonored by rioters, looters and anarchists . Violence and vandalism are led by the Antifa (anti-fascist movement) and other radical left-wing groups that terrorize innocent people, destroying jobs, damaging businesses and burning buildings" he added.

Trump was more conciliatory, however, than in the early hours of Friday when, after describing the protesters as "thugs" , he assured that "when the looting begins, the shootings begin", which was interpreted as a threat to shoot them.

The police response to the protests has been hardening, including attacks on journalists who cover them, such as those reported in recent days in Louisville, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Washington and Minneapolis, where they beat and tried to stop a group of informants last night. , including Efe.

New York Mayor Justifies Police

In New York, the most violent incidents were recorded last night in Brookly n, with the burning of several patrol cars. Two other police vehicles ran over protesters who were blocking their path behind a fence, further fueling spirits and reigniting outrage against security force violence.

This performance was recorded on video and broadcast on social media. In it you can see how a group of about 30 protesters block the way to a police vehicle with fences, throw bottles, garbage bags and other objects at him and, after arriving in support of another patrol car, run over a dozen people , while the second vehicle does the same with slightly less force.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio came out last night in defense of the city's police performance in the face of the protests, dismissing criticism of the Brooklyn incidents.

There is no reliable information on the wounded yet, although Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez said in a message on Twitter that the officers of the vehicles "could have killed them and we do not know how many were injured," while claiming that officers commanding patrol cars "are brought to justice", and that the problem is not solved internally, reports Efe.

However, Mayor Bill de Blasio, in an emergency press conference and in an interview on the local chain NY1, justified the police action in the face of an "exceptional situation" and "very tense" in which the agents were surrounded "with violence "by protesters. "The agents had to get out of that situation, they were surrounded," he argued. "I think the New York police have acted correctly, there was a lot of restraint on their part, but if there are cases that are not appropriate, we will act accordingly," he said.

Asked about the possibility of decreeing a curfew in New York as other cities in the United States such as Los Angeles have done, De Blasio assured that this type of action is not usually very effective and that this is not his plan at the moment, after which asked the citizens to return to their homes to rest.

Hundreds of detainees

Those detained in the protests, which in many places are accompanied by vehicle fires, the breaking of shop windows, acts of vandalism and looting , number in the hundreds. In New York alone, there are more than 200 arrested.

The curfew imposed in many cities has not served to deter protesters, nor has it calmed the expulsion of the police officers involved, the arrest and prosecution of Officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed Floyd's neck with his knee, or the Trump's announcement of the opening of an investigation to determine if his civil rights were violated.

Nor has the activation of the National Guard , a reserve corps, to support local law enforcement in Minnesota, Georgia, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Colorado, Ohio and Utah been deterrent .

In fact, as happened again last night in Minneapolis, protesters usually congregate at the time the night curfew begins, this time in the Fifth District area, where on Friday a bank branch and a police station were burned down.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz reported that the anarchists and white supremacists are involved in the riots. Walz has mobilized 13,000 members of the state National Guard to take control of the situation and has asked the Defense Department for help. US military police units are on alert for an eventual intervention in Minneapolis in just four hours, the Pentagon said, according to Afp. The military police cannot legally intervene in United States territory, except in the event of insurrection.

"We are under attack ," Walz said at a press conference on Saturday. "We must restore order," added the Democrat, reports Reuters.

From Philadelphia to Pittsburgh

In the different cities, scenes of burned police cars, blocked roads, broken windows and the launch of Molotov cocktails are repeated , as well as the police response with tear gas and rubber bullets against the protesters.

In Philadelphia, downtown rally participants vandalized a police vehicle and attempted to rip out the statue of former Mayor Frank Rizzo , a former police chief who has since died and is reputed to be heavy-handed.

In Washington, clashes between protesters and Secret Service agents outside the White House were repeated , before the protests spread to other parts of the capital, where fires and looting were reported. There were also rallies before the Justice Department, shouting: "Black lives matter."

In Pittsburgh, several police officers were injured in the riots in that Pennsylvania town, while three journalists were injured after being attacked this time by protesters.

Looting in Beverly Hills

There were also in Seattle, on the west coast, several law enforcement officers and protesters were injured in the protests , which had been peaceful for several hours, but "the crowd became violent and aggressive, and began throwing bottles at officers", the police said.

In Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the country, where a curfew was also declared and the National Guard was activated, the riots spread throughout the city and even reached the wealthy neighborhoods of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood , where looting scenes occurred among luxury stores.

Violent clashes with riot police and acts of vandalism were also reported, including the burning of police cars and broken windows. "This is no longer a protest. It is vandalism ... it is destruction," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garnett said in statements collected by Reuters.

Serious facts of 1992

The incidents raise fears that the serious riots of 1992 will be repeated in the country due to the acquittal of the white police officers who beat up the African-American Rodney King , who left more than 50 dead and 2,000 wounded.

The Democratic candidate for the White House, Joe Biden, condemned last night the violence of these days. "Demonstrating against plicial brutality is a right and a necessity. Burning cities and gratuitous destruction is not," he said, according to Afp.

Pain among the 'celebrities'

Outrage over Floyd's death has reached the celebrity world, with messages of protest and grief from figures like Beyoncé, Madonna, Billie Eilish , Mia Farrow, Cardi B, Ariana Grande, John Boyega, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Jamie Foxx, Viola Davis, Lupita Nyong'o, Ava DuVernay or Janelle Moná.

"We are broken and outraged. We cannot normalize this pain. I am not speaking only on behalf of people of color. Be it white, black, brown or whatever color in between, I am sure you feel hopeless about the racism that is happening in the US right now, " Beyoncé wrote on her Instagram account .

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