A night of fire and fury across America as protests intensify

A day of widespread protests devolved into a night of fire and fury across the nation as tensions boiled over in dozens of American cities.

Police cars and government buildings were set aflame, windows were shattered, stores were ransacked, monuments were vandalized and authorities in riot gear fired pepper pellets, tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators who had amassed to protest the death of a black man in police custody.

Curfews were enacted in more than two dozen cities and the National Guard was summoned in at least 12 states and the District of Columbia as officials pleaded for peace. But mayhem convulsed the country, leaving scores of police officers and protesters injured and parts of America smoldering.

Here are some significant developments:

• Some of President Trump’s allies are urging him to address the nation about the intensifying unrest. Trump’s presumptive Democratic rival, former vice president Joe Biden, released his own statement condemning the violence that followed the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
• The unrest spread to cities large and small, including Ferguson, Mo., which was rocked by violent protests in 2014 after a white police officer shot and killed a young black man, Michael Brown.
• Federal buildings in the nation’s capital were vandalized, and clashes erupted for a second day between Secret Service agents and demonstrators outside the White House.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles as violent demonstrations raged. Mayor Eric Garcetti initially resisted asking for Guard troops because he did not want to evoke memories of the 1992 Rodney King riots, but conditions continued to deteriorate in the city.
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) for saying he would not “blame” New York City policy officers who appeared to have driven their vehicle into a throng of protesters.
• Target said it was temporarily closing 175 of its stores across 13 states, including in Minnesota, where the retail giant is headquartered.
• Saturday’s protests came one day after fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death. Chauvin, who is white, was captured on video pressing his knee onto Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.

Source: Washington post