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VOA - World News

WASHINGTON - The governors of Minnesota and seven other states called up National Guard troops Saturday as they faced another night of violent protests sparked by the death of an African American man while in police custody.

For the past four nights, initially peaceful protesting has degenerated into looting, arson and other violence in Minneapolis and neighboring St. Paul, as well as other cities across the United States.

“We are under assault,” first-term Governor Tim Walz said as he promised “full strength” would be used to restore order.

Governors in at least seven other states -- Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, Colorado, Utah and Texas -- also activated National Guard troops to help quell protests that in many areas have turned violent.

Mayors across the U.S. have instituted nighttime curfews after violence occurred in their cities, including Los Angeles, California; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Atlanta, Georgia; Denver, Colorado; Columbia, South Carolina; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The demonstrators are protesting the death of George Floyd, who can be seen in a video lying on the ground with a white officer pressing his knee into his neck. Floyd, who is handcuffed with his hands behind his back on the video, can be heard pleading repeatedly, “I can’t breathe.”  

Demonstrators clash as people gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington.

The cellphone images have sparked global outrage, with protests spreading across the country. While some protests have led to violence -- including arson and looting in Minneapolis and Portland -- others have remained peaceful, as in Wilmington, Delaware, and Greenville, South Carolina.

In Washington, U.S. Secret Service agents formed a line late Friday into early Saturday to stop a rowdy crowd in Lafayette Park, across from the White House. Saturday night, a procession of vehicles festooned with signs including “Black Lives Matter” drove through the district’s southwest quadrant, horns honking. Other protesters gathered near the White House again.

President Donald Trump spoke about the unrest Saturday afternoon at the Kennedy Space Center, where he watched the SpaceX launch.

“The death of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis, was a grave tragedy. It should never have happened. It has filled Americans all over the country with horror, anger and grief,” he said.

Protesters rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S., May 30, 2020.

“I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace. And I stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting this tragedy to loot, rob, attack, and menace. Healing not hatred, justice not chaos, are the mission at hand,” he said.

But he added that Minneapolis cannot let chaos rule as it did early Friday when officers abandoned a police station and ignored protesters for several hours. Police eventually used tear gas to disperse the crowds.

The president has blamed most of the violence on “Antifa and other radical left-wing groups,” and offered Minnesota federal military assistance.

Walz said organized agitators from outside the state were responsible for some of the violence, including white supremacists, anarchists and people associated with drug cartels.

“The sheer number of rioters has made it impossible to make coherent arrests,” Walz said. He compared the organized protests to a “military operation” with protest leaders moving from location to location, creating new hot spots for police.

Numerous Minneapolis businesses suffered extensive property damage as protestors randomly looted stores in a Minneapolis neighborhood near the site where George Floyd died.  Somali-American business owner Ahmed Siyad Shafi’i told VOA that vandals attacked all his of his stores overnight.

“They broke the glass, the doors, the windows,” he said via Skype, “and take whatever they can take.”  Shafi’i, the owner of a restaurant and clothing store in South Minneapolis, called it “unacceptable” for anyone to destroy personal property and suggested peaceful protests.

The full mobilization of the Minnesota National Guard will increase its presence beyond the 700 soldiers already deployed. Major General Jon Jensen of the Minnesota National Guard said there will be more than 1,700 National Guard in the area by Sunday. 

The National Guard is a reserve military force with units in each of the 50 states, most of whose members serve part-time. The units can be activated in emergencies by the state governors to help deal with natural disasters or civil unrest.

Protests in various cities around the U.S. started peacefully Friday, but as the night progressed the violence increased.

People gather to protest the killing of George Floyd on May 30, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In Los Angeles, a peaceful protest escalated when an angry mob burned several police vehicles while officers tried to hold them back. The police department declared an unlawful assembly after protesters smashed shop windows and blocked a freeway.  Police marched into downtown Los Angeles to remove the demonstrators.

Derek Chauvin, the officer seen restraining Floyd in the video, was fired on Tuesday from the Minneapolis Police Department. He was charged Friday with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Bail was set at $500,000.

Floyd’s family responded to the charges, demanding a tougher approach.

“We want a first-degree murder charge. And we want to see the other officers arrested. We call on authorities to revise the charges to reflect the true culpability of this officer,” said a family spokesperson.

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the civil rights group NAACP, told VOA that the killing of Floyd shows that “we have in this country not dealt with the issues of race and the value of African American lives in Minneapolis.”

He said peaceful protests are “a way for the citizens of this country to bring forth grievances of injustice,” and said the NAACP “absolutely oppose rioting; that never solves anything.”

The VOA Somali Service contributed to this report.