On Friday, the Pentagon ordered the withdrawal of the military forces that had been deployed in the vicinity of the capital, Washington, to confront the protests taking place in the city and other American cities due to the killing of George Floyd, an African American, about a week ago in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Today, Saturday, many American cities are expected to witness mass demonstrations in support of Floyd, who was killed by white police officers, and in protest against racism and police violence in the United States.

Immediate withdrawal

And US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper issued orders to return regular forces that had been transferred to Washington, DC, to counter the protests, to their bases immediately.

US Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said that National Guard forces will remain on standby for assistance.

McCarthy indicated that the Pentagon has received information from the authorities expecting about 100,000 to 200,000 people to participate in Saturday's rally in Washington, DC.

He also confirmed that the crew of the military helicopter, which was hovering at low altitude over the protesters in the capital on Monday, had been suspended from work, pending the results of the ongoing investigation on the incident.

In turn, a US official told Reuters that the Ministry of Defense will return the remaining 900 soldiers in the vicinity of Washington - 900 people - to their bases.

The official, who asked not to be named, added that Esper made a decision on Friday, and that the soldiers will return to "Fort Bragg" in North Carolina and "Fort Drum" in New York.

On Thursday, the Pentagon ordered about 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to return to "Fort Bragg", and the official said the decision to return them was taken because of the arrival of a sufficient number of National Guard forces in the city.

Criticism of local officials

On the other hand, US President Donald Trump, in a Twitter Tweet, described Washington Mayor Muriel Bawser as incompetent and not qualified to run an important city like the capital.

He said that had she not entered the National Guard, she would not have looked better than her counterpart, the mayor of Minneapolis. Bawser had confirmed that the protesters are peaceful and unjustified by the appearances of the military presence in the city, and that street ownership belongs to them alone.

Trump said Friday that he had proposed to some state governors to summon the National Guard to confront mostly peaceful protests, seen in most parts of the country, in protest of Floyd’s death.

"I suggest to some of these rulers who exaggerate in pride, do not be deceived ... get the job done ... Your work will be much better in the end by calling the National Guard," he said in comments at the White House.

Trump addressed the rulers, saying, "You have to control the streets ... You should not have let this happen."

Earlier, the president condemned the killing of Floyd, but he took a tough line toward the protesters, saying that they included many "bad guys".

Black lives matter

In this context, officials at the Minneapolis City Council confirmed that they had reached an agreement with the state of Minnesota to prevent the police from using the suffocation technique during arrests, and said that this agreement was awaiting approval by the state’s judiciary for it to be enforced.

On a street near the White House, on Friday, demonstrators - with yellow paint and giant letters - wrote the phrase "Black lives matter."

The mayor of Washington said that the part located in front of the White House on 16th Street has now become officially called "the life of blacks is important."

Bawser unveiled the giant mural after tweeting a letter in which she called on Trump to "withdraw all the police and military forces that have been deployed exceptionally from our city."

Washington and other American cities have been witnessing protests for more than a week, after the murder of George Floyd, an African American, by the police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a police officer pressed his knee to his neck.

Other accidents

In Buffalo, New York, two policemen were suspended without pay after they showed them a video clip of a 75-year-old protester, who fell and was wounded in the head.

City mayor Byron Brown, who posted the punishment on Twitter, said he and the police commissioner "felt very unhappy" after watching the video.

A police statement said earlier that the man, who lost consciousness and bleeded heavily from the head, "stumbled and fell." On Twitter, state governor Andrew Como described the incident as "totally unjustified and utterly shameful." "The police must enforce the law, not abuse it," he wrote.

In Indianapolis, the police opened an investigation after a video was released showing at least four of her men beating a woman with a runaway and sprinkling it with pepper balls last Sunday night.

According to several media reports, New York City police officers Thursday beat dozens of peaceful demonstrators who violated the curfew in the Bronx after they were besieged, leaving them with no place to flee to.

Demonstrations around the world

On the other hand, protesters around the world took to the streets yesterday, Friday, in a wave of anger over Floyd’s death and protest against racism against minorities in their countries.

The biggest demonstrations were in Germany, where more than ten thousand people gathered in Frankfurt and Hamburg, and many raised their hands in the air and carried banners reading slogans such as "Your injured is ours, your battle is our battle."

One of the posters at the Frankfurt gathering carried the question "How many people were not photographed?", Indicating that the Floyd incident was filmed with video, but there may be many other similar cases that have not been documented.

In Trafalgar Square in the British capital, London, dozens were knocked to one knee in solidarity with Floyd and the protest movement triggered by his death in dozens of American cities.

In Australia, photos posted on social media showed demonstrators marching to the Parliament building in Canberra, despite the authorities' attempts to stop gatherings due to the Coronavirus. The Australians drew attention to the abuse of indigenous people.

Austrian demonstrators gathered near the US embassy with banners and slogans such as "There are no races ... There is only one human race," while the police in Norway allowed thousands of people to protest, although authorities said only 50 would allow them to do so.