Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Oliver Holmes, Helen Sullivan, Maanvi Singh , Sam Levin, Joan E Greve and Martin Pengelly

US police forcefully crack down on protesters as curfews fail to stop demonstrations – as it happened

A protester stands amidst tear gas during a protest in Atlanta against the death of George Floyd.
A protester stands amid tear gas during a protest in Atlanta against the death of George Floyd. Photograph: Dustin Chambers/Reuters

This live blog is closing. Our live coverage continues here:

European Commission sides with Twitter over Trump row

The European Commission has backed Twitter in its row with Donald Trump following the social media platform’s decision to hide one of the US president’s tweets with a warning over its glorification of violence.

The EU executive branch’s vice president, Věra Jourová, said politicians should answer “criticism with facts, not with threats and attacks,” in her response to the dispute.

After the addition of a fact-checking label to one of Trump’s tweets, the president had signed an executive order to reduce the social media platform’s protections against civil claims.

In a statement, Jourová said: “I support Twitter in their efforts to develop and implement a transparent, clear and consistent moderation policy. This is not about censorship. This is about flagging verifiably false or misleading information that may cause public harm, linking to reliable information, or flagging content violating their policies.

“The role of public authorities is not to interfere with content policies of private companies but to ensure that fundamental rights are protected online as well as offline – rights such as freedom of expression and information, non-discrimination, right to security.

“These rights protect all citizens, not only those in power. As politicians, we have to be held to account, and answer to criticism with facts, not with threats and attacks.”

The comments come ahead of next week’s expected launch of an overhaul of EU regulation of digital platforms. The commission will look at whether the big tech giants should be held responsible for content published on their sites or goods sold online.

A local television channel in Las Vegas is reporting that a city police officer was shot in the head tonight.

8 News Now said the incident, reportedly near the Circus Circus hotel and casino, was one of two shootings in the city.

The second occurred at the federal courthouse, the report said, when police fired at a suspect after they allegedly fired a shot.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed two shootings had taken place and that one officer had been hit, but did not provide details on their condition.

Protesters have been gathering on the main Las Vegas strip in recent days. On Monday evening, local media the demonstrations were largely peaceful although police broke up the crowds later in the night with tear gas.

Watch this video of protesters around the US explaining why they came out to demonstrate against systemic racism.

George Floyd’s killing and the ensuing US protests have resonated around the world, with solidarity demonstrations held in multiple countries.

It has also energised many outside the US to refocus on the injustices faced by ethnic minorities.

My colleague in Australia, Naaman Zhou, is currently at a significantly-sized protest in Sydney, where people are demanding an end to violence there, especially against Aboriginal people who have died while in custody.

We reported on Monday that 432 Indigenous Australians have died in custody since 1991. One of them, David Dungay, 26, said “I can’t breathe” 12 times before he died while being restrained by five prison guards.

His family said they had been traumatised anew by the footage of the death of Floyd, who used those same words while under restraint.

Read the Guardian Australia full analysis and story here:

The Associated Press has reported that two people have been killed in the Chicago suburb of Cicero as protests continued over the death of George Floyd.

Town Spokesman Ray Hanania said 60 people were arrested during protests, and people broke into a liquor store and other businesses.

Hanania did not provide additional information about those killed or how they died.

We hope to have more details later on.

More police have been wounded tonight in apparent attacks.

In Buffalo, NY, a car ploughed through a group of officers at a protest, injuring at least two people.

The above video shows the car accelerating through lines of riot police as they quickly disperse. What appears to be gunshots can be heard.

While the person who posted the video warned they might have been fatalities, authorities said the two injured officers were in stable condition.

Four police officers shot in St. Louis

Police in Missouri have said four of their officers were struck by gunfire tonight. None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.

St. Louis’ police chief, John Hayden, said two were shot in the leg, one in the foot and one in the arm.

“What constructive thing is going on?” he told reporters. “People have decided to steal and break windows. That’s all they are doing. So I don’t understand what that has to do with Mr Floyd’s death? That’s what I don’t understand.”

“Some coward fired shots at officers,” Hayden said, before his voice cracked up.

You can see his full comments here:

Here’s a little more on Blackout Tuesday from my colleague, Justine Landis-Hanley:

Influencers across Instagram and Youtube are cancelling scheduled content this week to take part in Blackout Tuesday, in response to the death of George Floyd.

Last Friday, music executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang, called on music companies and artists to bring parts of the $19bn industry to a halt, using the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused.

Video creators, The TryGuys, who have over 8 million followers across Youtube and Instagram, have said they will participate in Blackout Tuesday and push back their regularly scheduled Wednesday Youtube video “to continue supporting the community and the #BlackLivesMatter movement”. They are joined by sketch comedy channel Smosh (26 million+ followers across Youtube and Instagram).

Some of the world’s most prominent Youtubers Dude Perfect (60 million+) and Markiplier (33 million+) have also posted content supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

Meanwhile, model and Youtuber Karlie Kloss, model Gigi Hadid, influencer Maddie Ziegler, actress and Youtuber Lana Condor, and Australian fitness Youtuber Sarahs Day are just a few of the social media stars to post black squares to their Instagram feeds and stories in solidarity.

Los Angeles’ chief of police has apologised after he said people exploiting the protests to loot were also responsible for the death of George Floyd.

“His death is on their hands, as much as it is on those officers. And that is a strong statement,” Chief Michel Moore told a press conference on Monday.

Hours later, following an outcry, Moore retracted the comments on Twitter, acknowledging that they had been “terribly offensive”:

The city’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, has also spoken on the issue:

Hello to all those following.

Oliver Holmes here, taking over the blog for the next few hours. We’re now deep into the night across the US.

Please do get in contact with me if you spot anything, no matter how local it may seem, and also for any questions or feedback.

You can reach me via Twitter or on email, too: oliver.holmes [at] theguardian.com

That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan for today. My colleague Oliver Holmes will be taking you through the latest US developments for the next few hours.

Many thanks to those of you who got in touch on Twitter with information from your cities and elsewhere – it is hugely appreciated. And, as always, thanks for following along.

Celebrities, influencers, brands and other users are publishing all-black posts on Instagram in support of protestors.

Film star Timothée Chalamet posted this three times, tagging Black Lives Matter.

Timothée Chalamet posts in support of protests.

Surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore took part, too:

Stephanie Gilmore posts in support of protests.

The music industry is also observing a “blackoutday” on Tuesday:

The demonstration stands to bring major music companies, significant pieces of a $19bn industry, to a halt. The event organizer Live Nation will “pull the plug” on its operations and close offices for the day; radio shows will go silent; MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and other ViacomCBS-owned channels will “go dark”.

Minneapolis public schools are considering whether to end their contract with the city’s police department following the death of George Floyd.

The city’s public school board will vote on Tuesday evening on a resolution that would terminate the school district’s contract with the police department to provide “school resource officers” and mandate that the superintendent prepare an alternate plan for keeping students safe.

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka has added her voice to protests over George Floyd’s death.

Osaka, who was born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese mother, has previously passed her time in quarantine posting lighthearted selfies in stylish clothes or by the side of a pool.

But her social media feed changed following Floyd’s death, as she posted news footage of his death and the statement “There comes a time when silence is betrayal” as well as tweeting:

On Monday she posted on Twitter:

Osaka joins other sports figures in speaking out against racism and police violence, including basketball great Michael Jordan and Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.

Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

Floyd Mayweather to pay for George Floyd's funeral

Former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather has offered to pay for George Floyd’s funeral and memorial services, and the family has accepted the offer, AP reports.

Mayweather personally has been in touch with the family, according to Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions. He will handle costs for the funeral on June 9 in Floyd’s hometown of Houston, as well as other expenses.

Former five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather’s promotional company confirmed an offer has been made.
Former five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather’s promotional company confirmed an offer has been made. Photograph: Eugene Hoshiko/AP

TMZ originally reported Mayweather’s offer.

“He’ll probably get mad at me for saying that, but yes, he is definitely paying for the funeral,” Ellerbe told ESPN.com on Monday.

“We’ve reached the ‘mad emperor’ stage, and it’s terrifying to behold,” writes Guardian columnist Richard Wolffe.

In the week since George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers, Trump has watched and tweeted helplessly as the nation he pretends to lead has reached its breaking point. After decades of supposedly legal police beatings and murders, the protests have swept America’s cities more quickly than even coronavirus.

This is no coincidence of timing. In other crises, in other eras, there have been presidents who understood their most basic duty: to calm the violence and protect the people. In this crisis, however, we have a president who built his entire political career as a gold-painted tower to incite violence.

Here is a video of the incident referred to earlier, where police violently dispersed protestors ahead of Trump’s bible photo op:

US president Donald Trump has visited the 200-year-old church near the White House that was set on fire as demonstrators clashed with police over the weekend. Beginning with James Madison, every person who has held the office of president has attended a service at St John’s Church.

Law enforcement cleared protesters out of the area with tear gas before Trump’s visit. Tear gas canisters could be heard exploding as Trump spoke in the Rose Garden. He then walked over to the church. The protesters appeared to be acting peacefully before they were dispersed by force.

Hallie Golden reports for the Guardian from Seattle:

Officials from the Seattle Office of Police Accountability reported Monday that they received over 12,000 complaints related to how the city’s police responded to protests over the weekend.

The majority of the complaints had to do with 10 key incidents, including pepper spraying a young girl on Saturday, punching two people who were already on the ground and being arrested on two separate occasions and covering their badge numbers.

The next step will be for officials to run civilian led investigations, which, according to a statement from the office, will be completed “quickly due to the immense public concern.”

The report came on the fourth consecutive night of protests in Seattle, which, while mainly peaceful, have included a number of cases of looting. At 6 p.m. Monday, the city’s curfew went into effect, but thousands of protesters remained on the streets.

On Twitter, Seattle Police declared a demonstration in the Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill a riot, saying the crowd had “thrown rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers and is attempting to breach barricades.”

Law enforcement reportedly fired pepper spray and used flash bangs on the crowd.

The Hill reports that a Texas journalist has lost his eye in the protests:

Outside the Allen County Courthouse in Fort Wayne, Ind., one of those canisters hit 21-year-old Balin Brake, a weekend editor at a local television station.

Brake was taken to the hospital with a ruptured eye and fractured occipital bone, according to a post tied to a Facebook fundraiser set up by his mother, Rachel Simonis. In a selfie taken after surgery, Brake revealed that he had lost his eye.

The Guardian’s Michael Safi has been compiling a list of incidents where journalists were harmed during the protests:

Updated

Here are some images from the past few hours:

Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators shooting tear gas next to St John’s Episcopal Church outside of the White House
Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators shooting tear gas next to St John’s Episcopal Church outside of the White House Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AFP/Getty Images
Donald Trump walks back to the White House escorted by the Secret Service after appearing outside of St John’s Episcopal church
Donald Trump walks back to the White House escorted by the Secret Service after appearing outside of St John’s Episcopal church Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Orange County Sheriff deputies maintain a police block as a firecracker thrown by a protester explodes behind them
Orange County Sheriff deputies maintain a police block as a firecracker thrown by a protester explodes behind them Photograph: Gina Ferazzi/REX/Shutterstock

The White House has released a video of Trump’s visit to the St John’s episcopal church on Monday. The video shows Trump walking to and from the church, as well as holding a bible while standing outside.

Shortly after Trump’s visit, the Episcopal bishop of Washington DC said she was “outraged” after officers used teargas to clear a crowd of peaceful protesters from near the White House to make way for the US president.

The video, set to rousing music, does not show protestors or police clearing the area:

Here is our full story on the response from religious leaders to Trump’s visit:

Kari Paul reports for the Guardian from Oakland:

In Oakland, California, Gig car share has blocked users from checking out or parking cars in parts of the city, as protests continued in the East Bay City into Monday evening.

The company, which rents a fleet of hybrid Toyota Priuses and electric Chevrolet Bolts in the Bay Area and Sacramento, has blocked off areas in downtown Oakland where protests have broken out this week regarding the death of George Floyd. The app also showed West Oakland, a historically black neighborhood where fewer protests have occurred, blocked off.

Another ride sharing app, Revel Scooters, also blocked user access in certain areas on Monday night as San Francisco and Alameda County, where Oakland is located, instituted a curfew from 8 pm Monday evening to 5 am on Tuesday.

The areas on the Gig app were blocked off as people made their way home from a peaceful protest of more than 15,000 people Monday night, which was organized by students at local high school Oakland Tech. Gig Workers Rising, an activist group that monitors the sharing and gig economy, accused the company of “doing the bidding of [Oakland Police Department]” by preventing members of those neighborhoods from getting home.

“Tech companies are complicit with the carceral state,” the group said.

Gig Car Share did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Updated

In Austin, Texas, a black man is in critical condition after police fired “less critical munitions” at protestors on Sunday, the Austin Chronicle reports:

Investigations have begun into several incidents in which protesters suffered severe injuries from “less lethal impact munitions” fired by Austin police this weekend, Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters Monday evening.

...

Manley addressed the weekend’s most serious incidents, which have been widely discussed on social media. On Sunday, a Black man who was recording video of the protests in front of APD headquarters at IH-35 and Eighth Street was hit by a beanbag projectile apparently aimed at the person standing next to him, who (Manley said, citing the city’s HALO security camera footage of the events) was throwing items at the phalanx of officers blocking the entrance.

The victim, whose name has not been released, then fell and may have sustained a further head injury; when volunteer medics sought to remove him from the scene for treatment, Manley conceded, spectator video shows them in turn being fired upon by officers. The victim is currently in critical condition and “fighting for his life,” Manley said, choking back tears.

Hi, Helen Sullivan taking over the reins of this blog now. I’ll be with you for the next few hours – please do get in touch on Twitter with questions, feedback, and, of course, news from your part of the US.

I’m @helenrsullivan.

Alternatively, send me an email: helen.sullivan[at]theguardian.com

Updated

Today so far

  • Police cracked down on protestors as curfews hit cities across the Nation. Officers used pepper spray, tear gas, flash-bang grenades and even military helicopters as crowd control measures.
  • Donald Trump threatened to deploy military forces against US citizens if governors didn’t activate National Guardsmen to control protesters. Federal troops are prohibited from performing domestic policing, but in extreme cases, the president can invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the use of active-duty or National Guard troops for law enforcement.
  • Clearing the way for a presidential photo-op in front of a church near the White House that was damaged during protests, officers teargassed peaceful protestors who were out before curfew. The bishop of the diocese that includes St John’s church, where the president posed with a bible once protestors were dispersed, said the president’s actions were “antithetical” to what the church stands for.
  • The Louisville police chief was fired after officers shot and killed David McAtee, a local restaurant owner and beloved community member early Monday morning. Officers who shot at a crowd gathered near McAtee’s restaurants did so without activating body cameras. They claimed they were returning fire.
  • In Philadelphia, police responded to protestors with aggression, using tear gas and rubber bullets against those out past a curfew that was enacted with short notice. Such violent tactics were not used against a group of armed white men who gathered in the city’s Fishtown neighborhood who said they had turned up to protect businesses from looting.
  • In Washington DC, military helicopters flew low to disperse crowds, and officers doused protestors with pepper spray. General Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the senior-most military officer in the US, walked the streets of DC, saying he was observing National Guard on patrol.

I’m signing off for tonight, but my colleague Helen Sullivan in Australia will continue providing live updates.

In Oakland, mass arrests were made of protesors out after curfew.

Officers appeared to box in protestors before apprehending them.

In Washington, DC police surrounded and pepper-sprayed protestors, according to reporters at the scene. A local resident provided shelter more than 100 protestors, according to a reporter for The Washington Post.

Military helicopters were also used to disperse the crowds.

Earlier, General Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the highest-ranking and senior-most military officer in the US was walking the streets of DC. He told reporters he was there to observe as the DC National Guard joined other law enforcement officers to patrol the city.

A car has driven through a group of law enforcement officers during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in Buffalo, New York, injuring at least two people.

Video footage from the incident on Monday night shows the car speeding through a group of officers at an intersection knocking some to the ground, before accelerating off down a road. Officers appear to drag injured people off the road and onto the sidewalk.The officers were taken to Erie County Medical Center.

Mayor Byron Brown told local media the injured police officers were in a stable condition. The group of officers appeared to have tackled a person on the street and handcuffed them before the incident, the Associated Press reported.

With almost zero provocation and no audible warning, Oakland Police launches a barrage of tear gas at a crowd of about 500 to 600 protesters, who quickly dispersed as canisters of the stinging gas were thrown after them.

A reporter on the scene heard no warning from police, nor did it appear that an unlawful assembly had been declared. A few plastic bottles of water were thrown toward the police phalanx immediately before the barrage, but the crowd was almost entirely peaceful and many were leaving when the assault began. Police were in full riot gear and behind barricades.

The chemical weapons were deployed about 20 minutes before the 8pm curfew.

Video footage shared on social media shows several stores in midtown Manhattan being looted shortly before New York city’s curfew, which came into force at 11pm ET. Hundreds of people were captured on camera streaming into Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square, which had been boarded up earlier today in anticipation of further unrest in the city after several nights of mass protests over the death of George Floyd.

Footage showed dozens of NYPD officers also entering the Macy’s store, and many more patrolling nearby streets.

Nearby Footlocker, Microsoft and Sprint stores were also looted.

Police were seen making several arrests.

The New York Times is facing criticism for its framing of the demonstrations against police brutality across the nation as a “chaos” that Donald Trump has vowed to squelch.

“As chaos spreads, Trump vows to ‘End it now,’” The Times’ front page is headlined.

New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among those who disparaged the choice.

In Dallas, police officers reportedly shot at kneeling protestors with tear gas and flash bombs.

A reporter for KERA, who at the scene said he left the scene after having a gun pointed at him.

Officers have apparently surrounded protestors on the bridge and are making arrests.

A citywide curfew comes into force in New York City at 11pm local time, but that hasn’t stopped hundreds of protesters from gathering at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a peaceful candlelit vigil.

The Barclays Center, an indoor arena that is home to the Brooklyn Nets, has become one of the main gathering places for protests in New York City in recent days.

Updated

In Washington, DC, as protesters headed to the city’s Chinatown district, a helicopter with US military markings flew low, kicking up dirt and snapping a tree that nearly hit demonstrators, according to reporters at the scene.

A New York Times reporter who witnessed the scene said the maneuver by Blackhawk helicopters was similar to one low-flying jets conduct in war zones to scatter insurgents.

Updated

In Los Angeles, a group of Black residents apparently trying to get the attention of police officers when their business was threatened by looters was immediately handcuffed.

On live television, a local news reporter tried to explain to the officers that they were cuffing the wrong people.

The sun shone and the bells of Oakland’s First Presbyterian church rang out as thousands of Oakland residents - led by student organizers - marched from Oakland Tech High School to City Hall.

Boarded up windows on Broadway were the only remnants of the volatile protests in recent nights that have seen police use chemical weapons on crowds and some businesses looted or burned.

“This time feels like it’s going to be a little different,” said Christopher Foster, pastor of the Rock church in nearby Pittsburg. Foster said he felt hopeful that protests were occurring all around the country, and were not just focused in one city, as with Ferguson. He also spoke hopefully of a time when people will “eliminate segregation inside their hearts.”

Many demonstrators were attending a protest for the first time. Three roommates from West Oakland had gone to the dollar store to buy supplies for care packages for other protesters. It was their first protest, and they would not be staying out past curfew, they said, but they wanted to help their community.

Updated

Protests have continued in Louisville, where David McAtee, a Black man and the owner of a popular barbeque restaurant was shot and killed by police officers just after midnight this morning.

Officers and National Guard soldiers enforcing curfew, and officers shot into the crowd while their body cameras were turned off. A large group marched this evening to the site near McAtee’s restaurant where the 53-year-old was killed, and his body reportedly left for 12 hours.

The owner YaYa’s BBQ, McAtee was a beloved local figure who offered police officers free meals. Police claimed they were returning fire when they shot at the crowd. The police chief, Steve Conrad, was fired as a result of the incident,l but will retain his pension.

McAtee was known to “donate all his time and all his food,” community member Greg Cotton Jr told the Louisville Courier Journal. “Everybody could just come up and take it and he wouldn’t charge because it was for the neighborhood.”

Updated

Opinion: A boot is crushing the neck of American democracy

Philosopher and civil rights activist Cornel West writes for the Guardian:

The fundamental question at this moment is: can this failed social experiment be reformed? The political duopoly of an escalating neofascist Donald Trump-led Republican party and a fatigued Joe Biden-led neoliberal Democratic party – in no way equivalent, yet both beholden to Wall Street and the Pentagon – are symptoms of a decadent leadership class. The weakness of the labor movement and the present difficulty of the radical left to unite around a nonviolent revolutionary project of democratic sharing and redistribution of power, wealth and respect are signs of a society unable to regenerate the best of its past and present. Any society that refuses to eliminate or attenuate dilapidated housing, decrepit school systems, mass incarceration, massive unemployment and underemployment, inadequate healthcare and its violations of rights and liberties is undesirable and unsustainable.

Yet the magnificent moral courage and spiritual sensitivity of the multiracial response to the police killing of George Floyd that now spills over into a political resistance to the legalized looting of Wall Street greed, the plundering of the planet and the degradation of women and LGBTQ+ peoples means we are still fighting regardless of the odds.

If radical democracy dies in America, let it be said of us that we gave our all-and-all as the boots of American fascism tried to crush our necks.

Maine is one of the whitest states in the US, but protests against police violence have been growing there, last night and again today.

On Sunday, the Associated Press reported that a racially diverse crowd of about 300 people in Portland had marched, blocked traffic and vandalized police headquarters to protest George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. Tonight, journalist Karen Turner shared footage of another protest in Portland, saying it was the biggest crowd she had seen yet.

And the protests weren’t limited to Portland, Maine’s largest city. Local news outlets reported that hundreds of people gathered to protest George Floyd’s death in Bangor, Maine, a town of about 30,000 people, 90% of them white.

“Hands up, don’t shoot!” the protesters in Bangor chanted.

A federal judge has agreed to release on bail two lawyers accused of throwing a molotov cocktail into a police van during protests in Manhattan on Friday night. Urooj Rahman, 31, and Colinford Mattis, 32, were approved for release on Monday, each on a $250,000 bond, according to local media reports.

They are expected to be confined to their homes as they await trial. Prosecutors had strongly argued against their release on bail. “We don’t believe this is the time to be releasing a bomb thrower into the community,” one prosecutor said of Rahman, according to a Pix11 local news report.

Defense lawyers for the pair argued that the government was alleging a “property offense” and highlighted the heightened risks of contracting Covid-19 in the Medical Detention Center in Brooklyn.Rahman, a human rights lawyer who studied at Fordham University School of Law, and Mattis, who works for a Manhattan law firm and was educated at Princeton, were charged with causing damage to a police vehicle by throwing a home made incendiary device into an empty NYPD van outside the 88th precinct as protests over the killing of George Floyd turned violent.

The turnout in Oakland is huge today, for a protest organized by local students.

Thousands of students, teachers, parents and other locals gathered at a high school, before marching through the city. The Oakland police chief said 15,000 people came out, more than the estimated 8,000 who participated in Friday’s turbulent demonstration, according to local journalist (and former Guardian reporter) Darwin BondGraham.

Updated

From The Guardian’s Ankita Rao in Brooklyn:

A few hundred people who gathered in downtown Brooklyn made their way across the bridge to Manhattan for the fourth night in a row.

The evening started with a rally of speeches from residents and activists, calling on people to “take care of your body, they want us to get tired.” They promised to protest every day until “justice was served.” With the first night of curfew looming ahead, the police presence remained heavy though seemingly calm, more officers dressed down than on previous nights.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo had promised double the number of police forces tonight to enforce the 11 pm deadline. Making their way through Brooklyn bridge traffic, cars honked in support. Spray painted slogans on the bridge marked previous nights of protest.

Protests in Philadelphia met with aggression from police and white civilians with bats

In Philadelphia tonight, more than two dozen protesters were arrested after hundreds marched through the city. Teargas and rubber bullets were used on the crowd, which defied the city’s 6pm curfew, according to local reporters.

In the Fishtown neighborhood, a crowd of mostly white men with bats, hammers, and golf clubs took to the streets, saying they were there to protect the area from looters, according to local reporters. A separate group of people in the neighborhood asked police officers to send the armed group home.

One man who appeared to have a hatchet was taken into police custody, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A producer for WHYY, the local public radio station, who documented the scene said the mostly white crowd with weapons was dispersed by police. A black man appeared to have been arrested while saying that a bat was thrown at him.

Producer Jon Ehrens tweeted that he was “called out” for recording the crowd of self-described vigilantes, “and they beat the shit out of me and pushed my girlfriend.”

Updated

Joe Biden is set to deliver remarks in Philadelphia tomorrow.

Earlier today, the Biden emerged from isolation and addressed community leaders at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington, Deleware.

He listened to community members and said he would not take Black voters for granted, promising a set of policy proposals.

Going forward, Biden’s record of supporting “tough-on-crime” measures that escalated the policing issues that Americans are protesting this week is likely to face more scrutiny.

Bishop of DC episcopal dioscese denounces presidential photo op in front of church

Speaking on CNN, bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the episcopal diocese of Washington denounced the “abuse of sacred symbols for the people of faith in this country” on CNN. The president’s photo opportunity in front of St John’s church, which is a part of her diocese, was “antithetical to everything we stand for” she said.

The protests across the nation are fueled by systematic issues, she added. “We need to understand the deep-rooted causes of these things...If we don’t understand the context, we miss the opportunity to be agents of healing,” She told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “That’s what we saw from the president tonight. He missed one opportunity after another after another.”

Scenes of protest from around the nation:

New Orleans

Brooklyn

Oakland

Bobby Rush, an Illinois congressman and a Civil Rights era leader who co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers in 1967, responded to Trump’s Rose Garden address with this:

The Episcopal bishop of DC told The Washington Post that she was “outraged” after the officers cleared peaceful protesters gathered near the White House with tear gas and rubber bullets, to clear the way for Donald Trump to take photos outside St. John’s Church.

Updated

The fifth day of protests in New York have gotten a relatively quiet start, with New Yorkers gathering at Times Square. The city is bracing for more unrest, despite an 11pm curfew enacted by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The number of NYPD officers patrolling the streets would be doubled from 4,000 this weekend to 8,000 the Cuomo said.

A citywide curfew like the one implemented today is highy unusual. The last time such a curfew was enacted was in 1943, when Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia called a curfew in response to the Harlem riots, as the Gothamist pointed out.

The 1943 riots were also in response to police brutality against Black Americans. In response, more than 16,000 officers including police and state guardsmen were deployed to quell the demonstration. Five African Americans were killed by police, and approximately 500 Black men and women were arrested, according to an NYPD report.

Updated

Officers clearing out crowds near the White House pushed and hit an Australian camera crew, according to video captured of the incident.

During his brief address, Trump said he is an “ally of all peaceful protestors”, even as a crowd of peaceful protesters and journalists gathered outside the White House were cleared out with force.

Updated

Maanvi Singh, here, writing from the Bay Area.

It seems the area around the White House has now calmed.

The president is being widely criticized for using tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful protestors in order to make way for a presidential photo op.

White House pool reporters breathed in tear gas lingering in the air and were treated roughly by White House staff, according to Steven Portnoy of CBS News.

Fact check: Trump's military threats

Under the Civil War-era Posse Comitatus Act, federal troops are prohibited from performing domestic law enforcement actions such as making arrests, seizing property or searching people, the AP notes.

In extreme cases, however, the president can invoke the Insurrection Act, also from the Civil War, which allows the use of active-duty or National Guard troops for law enforcement.

From the Atlantic last year when there was talk of Trump using this act for immigration enforcement, Stephen I Vladeck, a professor of law at the University of Texas, wrote: “The ‘Insurrection Act’ is an umbrella term for a series of statutes that date all the way back to the Founding, and through which Congress has exercised its authority under Article I, Section 8, Clause 15 of the Constitution ‘to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions’. The Constitution’s drafters understood that there would be circumstances in which local authorities were inadequate to protect the populace and enforce the laws, and so went out of their way not only to identify three circumstances in which troops could be used, but also to give the power to delimit those circumstances to Congress, not the president.”

One crucial Supreme Court opinion, Vladek noted, said, “Congress, not the Executive, should control utilization of the war power as an instrument of domestic policy.”

With that, I’m handing over the blog to my colleague Maanvi Singh in Oakland, who will continue our coverage of the ongoing protests and curfews into the night. - Sam Levin

Updated

It appears that police teargassed protesters at a Washington DC church, before the city’s curfew went into effect, in an effort to clear the area for the president’s photo op tied to his threat to deploy the military on his own citizens.

The church visit was brief and Trump has ignored questions about how his threats could further enflame tensions.

Protesters were previously moved away from St John’s church to make way for Trump’s photo op.

The president is now headed to St John’s Church, an orchestrated walk on live television that comes after reports of him rushing to an underground bunker during the protests on Friday. He has not responded to questions.

CNN’s Don Lemon, reacting to Trump’s threats to deploy the US military against its own citizens, urged America to “wake up”, saying, “We are teetering on a dictatorship.”

Fact check: Trump said he “strongly encouraged” states to activate the National Guard. He did not note that many states have already done this.

According to one estimate, there are now more than 17,000 National Guard troops activated in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Some have argued that the presence of the National Guard has only further escalated tensions and resulted in increased clashes and violence by police.

Trump’s extraordinary remarks have sparked widespread concern, with some noting that he is threatening to deploy the US military against citizens of this country. His speech took place as police were simultaneously teargassing protesters outside the White House. In his remarks, Trump also said the 7pm curfew in DC would be “strictly enforced”. The teargassing began prior.

Here’s the exact language of Trump’s threat from the brief press conference:

I have strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets. Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled. If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.

Updated

The president has left after brief remarks, without taking questions.

In his remarks, he said, “I am your president of law and order” and called himself an “ally of all peaceful protesters” but quickly moved to more divisive and threatening remarks, highlighting specific examples of violence across the country, and saying the nation needed “security not anarchy”. He also spoke briefly of George Floyd in the beginning of his comments, but said nothing of police violence or racial injustice in America, which is what sparked the nationwide demonstrations.

In a startling scene, police are using teargas to disperse crowds of protesters near the White House while Trump is speaking in the Rose Garden.

Updated

Trump threatens military deployment to protests

The president has threatened to send in military if governors don’t act. He said he also encouraged governors to bring in the National Guard, which many states have already done.

Trump is predictably painting a picture of violent protests, focusing on “professional anarchists” and “Antifa”.

He says “we are ending the riots and lawlessness” and “innocent people have been savagely beaten”.

Trump is now speaking at the Rose Garden. We fill follow along here.

“I swore an oath to uphold the laws of the nation and that is what I will do,” he said at the start.

Oakland, California is now doing a curfew, starting at 8pm, and Los Angeles is once again doing a countywide curfew.

This is the first time during George Floyd protests that Oakland’s mayor, Libby Schaaf, has implemented a curfew. Alameda county, which includes Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond and other East Bay cities in northern California, has also adopted a countywide curfew.

LA is the largest county in the nation, a sprawling region with more than 10m people, and is doing a curfew for a second night in a row. In both regions, there have been complaints of police brutality and excessive force at the protests.

Legions of K-Pop fans spammed a surveillance tool launched by the Dallas police department on Saturday after the department encouraged people to send in “video of illegal activity” from protests of police violence there.

As protests raged on around the US related to death of George Floyd, an Black man who was allegedly killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis last Monday, the Dallas police department tweeted an appeal that videos, texts, or other tips of protestors be uploaded anonymously to its iWatch app.

But by Sunday, the app was temporarily shut down due to “technical difficulties” after hundreds of K-pop fans flooded it with videos of their favorite Korean pop stars and the app was flooded with one-star reviews on iTunes.

Police had encouraged users to upload footage as the city of Dallas experienced protests related to the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Police arrested more than 70 people in the protest on charges of “inciting a riot” and violating curfews.

It is unclear if the iWatch app was overwhelmed by traffic after Twitter users mobilized against it or was voluntarily taken down due to the onslaught of spam videos. Dallas Police did not respond to requests for comment.

California demonstrations have sprung up not just in cities known for protest, such as Oakland and Los Angeles, but throughout the state, from Eureka, near the Oregon border, to La Mesa in southern California, from the coastal Santa Cruz to the conservative stronghold of the Central Valley.

In many cities, the protesters remembered and honored the lives of their own who were killed or mistreated by police. In Oakland, they marched from a plaza renamed during the Occupy protests for Oscar Grant, the 22-year-old black man who was fatally shot in the back as he laid handcuffed on the ground by a transit police officer in 2009.

So far, spokespeople for the medical examiner’s office in Minneapolis have not commented on why its new report has concluded that George Floyd’s death was a homicide.

The Hennepin county’s preliminary report sparked widespread backlash across the country for saying the examiner found “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxiation or strangulation”.

The announcement of the updated report emphasized that its finding is “not a legal determination of culpability or intent”.

In numerous high-profile cases of killings by police, charges were not filed even after the government autopsy reports have ruled the deaths a homicide. Floyd’s family and people across the US have urged prosecutors in Minnesota to file charges against the three other officers who were present for the killing.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has said it is also assisting with response to the ongoing protests in Washington DC, raising further concerns about an escalation by law enforcement.

Here’s an announcement from the acting commission who has repeated the president’s talking points about domestic terrorism and “agitators”. There has been little evidence to support claims of outside people agitating crowds on the ground as protests have swelled in cities across the nation, attracting a wide range of people and organizations condemning police violence.

Trump is expected to speak soon at the Rose Garden. Stay tuned.

Medical examiner says George Floyd death a homicide

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has declared the death of George Floyd a homicide, saying he died of “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual restraint, and neck compression”, Reuters reported, citing a local a Minneapolis station.

The updated report from the examiner stated that Floyd died from a loss of blood flow due to compression on his neck while being restrained by Minneapolis police, local Fox television affiliate Fox 9 reported.

The Hennepin County medical examiner did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The official autopsy by the Hennepin county medical examiner, covering the jurisdiction where Floyd died, last week gave preliminary results that found cause of death to be the “combined effects of Mr Floyd’s being restrained by police, underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system”.

Updated

Anthony Fauci, the government’s top public health expert and Covid-19 task force member, said he was no longer in frequent contact with president Trump.

Asked whether the president talks to him often about Covid vaccine work, he told a reporter with Stat News, “No ... As you probably noticed, that the task force meetings have not occurred as often lately. And certainly my meetings with the president have been dramatically decreased.”

Fauci noted that they used to have task force meetings daily, including on the weekend, and said that frequently, the two would talk after the meeting, estimating that a month ago, they met four times a week.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also told a CNN reporter that he has not spoken or met with Trump in two weeks and that their last interaction was 18 May, during a teleconference with the nation’s governors.

The comments from Fauci come as states across the US have continued to reopen and end lockdowns, even as reports of new Covid-19 cases and deaths continue. Last week, the US recorded more than 100,000 deaths from Covid-19, moving past a grim milestone while states are relaxing mitigation measures.

In his STAT interview, Fauci said he understood the desire to reopen states as quickly as possible: “I certainly have sensitivity for the need of the public to start getting to some form of normalization.” But he said he was still concerned about the pace of the reopening:

When I see a situation where there is a region, a state, a city, a county where there’s a considerable amount of viral activity there, and you see people crowding around bars — and there were several pictures of that, that was quite striking over the last couple of days — or on boardwalks, where they’re very, very close to each other, I do get concerned.

He said he was not concerned about the 12-18 month vaccine timetable, but added, “There’s no guarantee that it’s going to be effective.

In May during Senate testimony, Fauci also expressed concerns about the potential for ongoing outbreaks: “There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you might not be able to control. Not only leading to some suffering and death, but it could even set you back on the road to get economic recovery.”

Active military deploying to Washington DC as White House protests continue

Protests continued at the White House this afternoon, as the mayor of Washington DC has announced 7pm curfews tonight and Tuesday.

Active duty military police battalion is now in process of deploying to DC could be in place by tonight, according to CNN, citing defense officials, who say the mission is security not law enforcement. Two defense officials said troops will be coming from Fort Bragg North Carolina, the station reported.

Staff have largely left their White House officers early this afternoon, according to a Bloomberg News reporter. Here’s the current scene at the White House:

The Guardian’s Kenya Evelyn has more from attorneys representing the family of George Floyd:

In a press conference Monday, attorneys for the family of George Floyd announced that an independent autopsy by third party medical examiners hired by the family determined that the 46-year Houston native died “by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain”.

“George died because he needed a breath, a breath of air,” family attorney Ben Crump said during a virtual conference.

Attorneys added that “for George Floyd, the ambulance was his hearse”, as an EMT report determined Floyd likely “died at the scene”. Medics “performed pulse checks several times finding none and delivered one shock by their monitor but George’s condition did not change”.

Michael Baden, a medical examiner, and Dr Allecia Wilson of the University of Michigan handled the examination. The analysis directly contradicted preliminary results from an examination by the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office that ruled Floyd was not strangled, but died from preexisting health conditions combined with being restrained.

Crump had previously stated that the family was “not surprised” but “tragically disappointed in the preliminary autopsy findings,” as they could “create a false narrative for the reason George Floyd died.

“Attempts to avoid the hard truth will not stand,” he said Saturday after preliminary autopsy results were released.

A Nebraska bar owner won’t be charged for the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old man during protests in Omaha, officials have announced.

The shooting occurred around 11pm on Saturday, and police arrested a bar owner, Jake Gardner, soon after he killed a protester, James Scurlock, the AP reported. But Douglas county attorney Don Kleine said today that Gardner fired the fatal shot during a scuffle with protesters outside one of his bars, claiming he “feared for his life” and it was self defense.

The killing and the decision not to charge has sparked further outrage. The victim was black, and the bar owner is white.

Dallas police officials are investing two incidents of use of force during the Sunday protests, officials have announced.

The police department said the injuries of the protesters were serious but did not provide further details:

As a result, two individuals were seriously injured, requiring hospitalization and surgery. We are currently waiting for the victims to recover in order to garner all the facts surrounding these incidents.

Protests in Dallas on Sunday.
Protests in Dallas on Sunday. Photograph: Larry W Smith/EPA

Police said the investigations were ongoing and did not provide any information about whether involved officers were on leave or had faced other consequences.

San Francisco and Los Angeles will both be under curfew again tonight:

Across LA, the largest county in the US which had a mandatory curfew last night, nearly 1,200 were arrested on Sunday. Dozens were arrested in San Francisco. Police across the country have faced criticism for their aggressive use of force in response to the protests, which were ignited by ongoing outcries on police brutality and violence.

The ACLU of Southern California has condemned the curfews and the decision to bring in the National Guard, saying: “Combined with the aggressive show of military force and the troubling accounts of police using batons and rubber bullets not just in response to threatened force but against peaceful protestors, these approaches repeat the very problems at the root of the protests.”

The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports on a pivotal voting rights case:

The Wisconsin supreme court has agreed to hear a closely-watched case seeking to remove nearly 130,000 voters from the rolls ahead of the November election.

The stakes are high for the case because Donald Trump won Wisconsin by just under 23,000 votes in 2016. It is expected to be extremely competitive this year and is considered a must-win state for both Trump and Joe Biden if they want to win the presidency.

The case involves a challenge from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (Will), a conservative legal group. Will wants the voters removed because it says the state has “reliable evidence” they may have moved. In 2019, the state sent out a mass-mailing to more than 232,000 people it believed had moved, based on data from other government agencies.

Will sued the state last year, saying it needed to remove people who didn’t respond to the mailing within 30 days. Voting rights groups say such a quick removal would amount to voter suppression because there may be many people who are still qualified to vote and haven’t moved, but just didn’t respond to the mailing.

Wisconsin election officials want to wait to do the removals until well after the 2020 presidential election, saying they don’t want to disenfranchise anyone who hasn’t moved and is still eligible. A circuit court judge sided with Will in December and ordered the state to immediately purge the voters, but he was later overruled by an appellate court.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission reported last month that 4,709 voters who received the 2019 mailing had sent back postcards indicating they wanted to stay registered at their current address. Just over 57,000 had re-registered at a new address. 41,637 people on the list had become inactive based on other information that they were ineligible to vote.

129,151 voters have not updated their voter registration and could be affected by the supreme court’s decision.

A dispatch from the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief inside the west wing today:

Since protests broke out, the world is waiting for Donald Trump to give an address from the Oval Office or elsewhere at the White House. Instead he dispatched Kayleigh McEnany, his press secretary, to the west wing briefing room on Monday.

One reporter noted that the president was literally taken to an underground bunker for his own safety on Friday night. “Would you agree that he is hiding out on this issue and is that a good posture to be in?” he asked.

McEnany replied: “I would not agree with that at all. I was on the phone with the president at least half a dozen times yesterday and every time I talk to him, he was telling me about a different action he has taken whether it was talking to a governor about this or a foreign leader about ventilators. This president has been leading.”

Bridling at the idea that Trump has failed to speak out, the press secretary also insisted: “Make no mistake, this president has not been silent. At this moment he is acting to protect this country from the lawlessness we saw just out here in Lafayette Park last night.”

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday. Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

It is now customary for all reporters at the White House briefings to wear masks. McEnany and her colleagues did not.

Despite his long history of divisive rhetoric and championing of tough policing, the press secretary also noted Trump’s “long history of condemning white supremacy and racism”. Critics have compiled long lists that go in the opposite direction.

I asked if Trump regretted his weekend references to “When the looting starts, the shooting starts” and “vicious dogs”. McEnany claimed that he had been “taken wildly out of context” and denied that, as Twitter concluded, he was inciting violence.

Americans should not allow themselves to be divided, she went on. “The American spirit is defined by love and mutual acceptance and kindness. Despite the horrific scenes we’ve seen played throughout the media there are some things that we haven’t seen.”

McEnany proceeded to play a series of video clips of protesters and police working together.

She then departed. “I just want to leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that ‘We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools

Judge in Flynn case speaks up

The US judge hearing the criminal prosecution of former Trump administration official Michael Flynn defended himself this afternoon.

Flynn and Trump in Washington in 2016.
Flynn and Trump in Washington in 2016. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Federal judge Emmet Sullivan said it was proper to seek outside views on whether to drop a charge to which Flynn has pleaded guilty, as the Justice Department has requested.

Lawyers representing Sullivan said in a court filing today that he is not a “mere rubber stamp” and needed to carefully consider the department’s “unprecedented” request, Reuters reports.

Democrats and former federal prosecutors have accused Attorney General William Barr of politicizing the criminal justice system to go light on Trump associates in key cases.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had ordered Sullivan to respond to an emergency petition in which Flynn said the Justice Department’s request to drop the prosecution should be quickly granted.

Sullivan, who has tapped former federal prosecutor Beth Wilkinson to represent him in the appellate court case, has not yet ruled on the department’s May 7 request to drop the false-statement charge against Flynn.

The department made the request after Trump and his allies publicly criticized the case against Flynn

Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the weeks before Trump took office.
Sullivan asked retired judge John Gleeson to serve as a “friend of the court” and instructed him to present arguments against the department’s request - including whether he should hold Flynn in contempt for perjury. Gleeson’s legal brief is due June 10.

Hi all - Sam Levin here, taking over the blog for now in Los Angeles, where officials have put in place afternoon curfews in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Long Beach.

Here’s the chief of police in Houston telling Trump to “keep your mouth shut” in an interview:

Earlier, Trump told governors they need to “dominate” protesters out on the street, sparking widespread criticism.

Today so far

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Sam Levin, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • A private autopsy of George Floyd concluded he died of asphyxiation from sustained pressure, Floyd’s family and attorneys announced. The Hennepin county medical examiner concluded Floyd’s death while in police custody was caused by the “combined effects of Mr Floyd’s being restrained by police, underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system”.
  • New York will enforce a curfew tonight starting at 11 pm. Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York mayor Bill de Blasio said the curfew would be in effect from 11 pm to 5 am and would be accompanied by an increased police presence on New York’s streets.
  • Louisville’s police chief was reportedly fired over the death of David McAtee early this morning. Kentucky’s governor said today that one man had died after police officers and the national guard “returned fire” as they tried to disperse a crowd. According to reports, the officers involved did not have their body cameras on when McAtee was shot.
  • Trump told governors they need to “dominate” the activists who are protesting the killing of George Floyd. The president repeatedly told governors that they needed to get tougher against the demonstrators, sparking alarm among those on the call.
  • Barack Obama offered advice to the protesters while condemning violence from the demonstrations. “If, going forward, we can channel our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained, and effective action, then this moment can be a real turning point in our nation’s long journey to live up to our highest ideals,” Obama wrote in a Medium post.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Louisville police chief reportedly fired

The Louisville chief of police has reportedly been fired after officers shot and killed a man named David McAtee while their body cameras were not turned on.

The Kentucky governor said earlier today that one person had died after police officers and the National Guard “returned fire” while trying to disperse a crowd in a Louisville parking lot. Governor Andy Beshear said the Kentucky state police would investigate the incident.

The victim was later identified as McAtee, the owner of the local business YaYa’s BBQ in western Louisville. McAtee’s business is located next to the parking lot where the shooting occurred.

Police officers guarding Trump International Hotel kneeled as peaceful protesters marched past the president’s DC property.

The sight of the kneeling officers sparked cheers from the demonstrators, who were on their way to the White House to once again protest the killing of George Floyd.

Curfew for New York City

The “city that never sleeps” is going to be under curfew, from 11pm tonight to 5am tomorrow, the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, and state governor, Andrew Cuomo, agreed today.

There will also be an increase in policing. In a radio interview, Cuomo said: “In New York City, I spoke with the mayor, there’s going to be a curfew in New York City that we think could be helpful ... More importantly, there is going to be an increase in the force.

“There were about 4,000 officers on duty last night. There’ll be double that tonight, about 8,000,” Cuomo added.

The curfew initially is only tonight. Nothing has been decided about any subsequent restriction.

Cuomo has said he is prepared to call in the national guard.

The New York police department has been widely criticized for heavy-handedness amid angry but peaceful protests in downtown Brooklyn on Friday where people decried the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and police brutality and racial bias in killings of black people by police across the country.

Incidents elsewhere where police vehicles drove into protesters standing in front of them are being investigated. There were protests in numerous city neighborhoods at the weekend, some of which escalated out of control.

Demonstrators stage a momentary die-in and chant during a rally in New York’s Times Square today denouncing racism in law enforcement and the May 25 killing of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police.
Demonstrators stage a momentary die-in and chant during a rally in New York’s Times Square today denouncing racism in law enforcement and the 25 May killing of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police. Photograph: Scott Heins/Getty Images

Updated

Private autopsy finds George Floyd died of asphyxiation

The family of George Floyd has had a private autopsy performed on his body, with pathologists concluding that the cause of death was asphyxiation from sustained pressure.

Philonise Floyd (L), George Floyd’s brother, looks at tributes left at the scene in Minneapolis near where the death occurred.
Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, looks at tributes left at the scene in Minneapolis near the site where the death occurred. Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPA

Pathologists who conducted the examination “found the manner of Mr Floyd’s death was homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain ... and impeded his ability to breathe”, a statement released by the family and their attorneys said today.

Lead attorney for the family, Ben Crump, released the news ahead of a press briefing in Minneapolis, where Floyd died a week ago after a police officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes after he was detained on the street following a complaint from a store.

Pathologists Michael Baden and Allecia Wilson found that weight being applied to Floyd’s back, his hands being cuffed behind his back and the position of his body, where he was also at times being restrained by other officers as he lay on the ground, “were contributory factors because they impaired the ability of Mr. Floyd’s diaphragm to function”.

The official autopsy by the Hennepin county medical examiner, covering the jurisdiction where Floyd died, last week gave preliminary results that found cause of death to be the “combined effects of Mr Floyd’s being restrained by police, underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system”.

Video of Floyd’s treatment by the police went viral. Baden said: “What we found is consistent with what people saw. There is no other health issue that could cause or contribute to the death.”

The pathologists believe Floyd died at the scene. Crump said: “For George Floyd, the ambulance was his hearse.”

The family wants fired officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter last Friday, and the three officers who also detained Floyd but have yet to be arrested or charged, all to be charged with first-degree murder.

A public memorial is planned for Floyd in Minneapolis on Thursday. He was originally from Houston, Texas, and there are plans for that city to be his final resting place, with details to be confirmed.

Updated

The White House has released its readout of Trump’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin today, which came two days after the US president suggested inviting Putin to an expanded G7 summit.

“President Trump and President Putin discussed the latest efforts to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and reopen global economies,” White House spokesperson Judd Deere said in a statement.

“President Trump conveyed that the United States is working hard to care for Americans at home and provide assistance to other countries in need, including the donation of 200 ventilators to the Russian people. President Trump also reiterated the need for effective arms control. Additionally, the two leaders discussed progress toward convening the G7.”

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany confirmed moments ago that the call had occurred, but she did not offer any details about what was discussed.

The Kremlin said earlier today that the two leaders had discussed Trump’s suggestion to invite Putin to the expanded summit, while the White House readout does not specfically mention the US president’s invitation.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was opposed to allowing Russia to rejoin the G7, after Trump floated the idea of allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend an expanded summit in September.

“Russia was excluded from the G7 after it invaded Crimea a number of years ago, and its continued disrespect and flaunting of international rules and norms is why it remains outside of the G7, and it will continue to remain out,” Trudeau said during his daily news conference.

The Canadian leader’s comments come after a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would veto any proposal to allow Russia to rejoin the group.

Trump said Saturday that he would cancel the next G7 summit, which was scheduled for June, and intead planned to hold an expanded summit in September and invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India to the event.

Biden seeks advice from country's mayors during roundtable

During a virtual roundtable with the mayors of Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and St. Paul, Minnesota, Joe Biden sought advice on how to find the balance between “keeping people safe” and “acknowledging the incredible pain and anger that is the root of these protests.”

“People are angry,” Biden said. “I’m angry. And the fact is we need that anger, we need that to tell us to move forward, it helps us push through this pain to reach the other side, to hopefully greater progress, equality and inclusion and opportunity in our country.”

Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said community engagement was key, using her city as an example of how to build bridges between officers and the communities they police. After urgently pleading for calm following a violent night of protests on Friday, Bottoms said her city “was able to receive some grace” in the streets.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot outlined the need for more training and community engagement for police officers.
Biden then asked St Paul Mayor Melvin Carter whether it was a “pipe dream” to integrate officers so closely with the community that they know residents by name: “‘Hey Deshaun, how are you?’ Or ‘hey George,’” he said, offering an example.

Carter said he believed it was possible and that it was already happening in cities like St. Paul.

“As we figure out how we move forward from this moment, one of the things that we’re learning from people is that our residents are ... very willing if there’s an avenue to speak up and protest peacefully,” he said. “But what they’re not willing to do is to return to quiet.”

After being rocked first by a public health crisis, then economic turmoil and now social unrest, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said what cities from the federal government was “money and morals” – a cash infusion to help cities deal with the compounding crises and leadership to help move the country forward.

Earlier on Monday, Biden met with community leaders on Monday at Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Delaware, a day after he visited some of the protest sites on Sunday.

“The people in this room, we love you,” state Senator Darius Brown told Biden. “But we’re here not only to love you, but to push you, because if we can publicly support every other Democratic base, then we should publicly support the African-American Democratic base.”

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany concluded her press briefing by playing clips of instances where police officers and protesters came together this weekend to honor the memory of George Floyd, such as the one below.

“Across the country, we’ve seen examples of police protecting protesters and protesters embracing police, and it’s been beautiful to watch,” McEnany said.

The press secretary did not mention some of the more controversial encounters between police and protesters this weekend, such as when two NYPD cruisers drove into a crowd of protesters.

McEnany said of the uplifting clips, “Those images have not been played all that often.” But that comment seemed odd considering some of the clips the press secretary showed had been taken directly from news broadcasts.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisted Trump is “hard at work,” as the president receives criticisim for being relatively quiet about the George Floyd protests.

“I was on the phone with the president at least half a dozen times yesterday, and every time he was telling me about a different action he had taken,” McEnany said.

A number of commentators have suggested the president should deliver some kind of national address to respond to the nationwide unrest, but McEnany earlier dodged a question about whether Trump would do so.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed Trump’s comments to governors about needing to “dominate” the protests had been “taken out of context.”

“What the president has said is he wants to dominate the streets with National Guard, with a police presence,” McEnany said during her White House briefing.

“Anytime he’s used the word ‘dominate,’ it is in regard to dominating the streets and ensuring we have peace in our streets.”

Speaking to governors earlier today, Trump said, “You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you. You’re going to look like a bunch of jerks.”

Massachusetts senator Ed Markey called Trump “scum” for how he has reponded to the George Floyd protests that are intensifying across the country.

Many Democratic lawmakers have criticized the president for lashing out against the protesters, accusing him of intensifying divisions as the country grapples with the issue of police brutality.

Updated

Floyd's family calls on protesters to remain peaceful

George Floyd’s brother has arrived at the site of his brother’s death, where Minneapolis residents have created a mural to honor his memory.

Floyd’s brother became very emotional upon arriving at the site, and others joined him in prayer when he kneeled on the ground.

Floyd’s brother implored the protesters to remain peaceful, insisting his late brother would not have wanted to see destruction taking place in his name.

“That’s not going to bring my brother back at all,” Floyd’s brother said of the demonstrations that have turned violent. “My family is a peaceful family; my family is God-fearing.”

Trump informed Russian President Vladimir Putin of his plan to host an expanded G7 summit in September during a phone call today.

According to Reuters, the two leaders spoke about the potential G7 summit later this year, after Trump canceled the summit planned for June, and the OPEC deal on oil output cuts.

The president said Saturday he wanted to invite Russia, as well as Australia, India and South Korea, to the expanded summit.

However, the idea of inviting Putin was quickly met with criticism, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said today that he would veto any effort to readmit Russia to the G7.

Trump spoke to South Korean President Moon Jae-in today, two days after the US president floated the idea of allowing the foreign ally of joining an expanded G7 summit later this year.

“The two leaders discussed a range of economic and national security issues, including the coronavirus pandemic and restoring the strength of the global economy,” White House spokesperson Judd Deere said in a statement. “President Trump and President Moon also discussed progress toward convening the G7 later this year.”

Trump announced on Saturday that the June G7 summit would be canceled and he planned to host an expanded meeting in September, which would focus on confronting China.

The president said he hoped to invite Russia, as well as South Korea, Australia and India, to the expanded summit. But the idea of inviting Vladimir Putin back to the G7, after Russia was ousted from the group over its annexation of Crimea, was quickly met with widespread criticism abroad.

Jacksonville Jaguars safety Peyton Thompson has described the NFL’s statement on the death of George Floyd as “trash” and says he was told by his coaches not to kneel during the national anthem protests in 2016.

“The statement issued by the @nfl is complete trash,” Thompson wrote on Twitter on Monday. “I specifically remember [Jaguars executive vice-president] Tom Coughlin and [head coach] Doug Marone telling us we couldn’t kneel. Thank God we had an owner of minority [Shahid Khan] who weighed in and got us to kneel together! My job security was on the line if I supported my people.”

On Saturday, the NFL put out a statement saying it was saddened by the death of Floyd as well as the recent high-profile killings of two other African Americans, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Many pointed out that NFL teams have effectively exiled former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick after he highlighted the same racial injustice in the United States that has cost the lives of Americans such as Floyd, Arbery and Taylor. Houston Texans receiver Kenny Stills described the NFL’s statement as “bullshit”.

The league has also been criticized for its failure to recruit minority coaches. There were eight NFL head coaches from minority background in 2018, now there are four.

Thompson’s comments come as an increasing number of athletes from the NBA and NFL, in both of which the majority of players are black, express anger at racism in the United States.

On Sunday Michael Jordan, widely acknowledged as the greatest NBA player in history, broke from his usual apolitical stance to condemn America’s “ingrained racism”.

Others have pointed out the uncomfortable fact that it is most often rich white men who profit from young black men in US sports. North Carolina Central men’s basketball coach LeVelle Moton said on Sunday he has been disappointed by the failure of white coaches to speak out about the death of Floyd. Moton, who is black, says that the top coaches, who are paid millions of dollars a year, profit from the African American community but do little to protect it.

Today so far

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Trump told governors they need to “dominate” the activists who are protesting the killing of George Floyd. The president repeatedly told governors that they needed to get tougher against the demonstrators, sparking alarm among those on the call.
  • Barack Obama offered advice to the protesters while condemning violence from the demonstrations. “If, going forward, we can channel our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained, and effective action, then this moment can be a real turning point in our nation’s long journey to live up to our highest ideals,” Obama wrote in a Medium post.
  • One person was killed in Kentucky after police officers and the National Guard “returned fire” while trying to disperse a crowd of demonstrators in a Louisville parking lot. Democratic governor Andy Beshear said the incident would be investigated by the Kentucky state police.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

The Guardian’s Daniel Strauss reports:

Donald Trump has urged governors, law enforcement officials and national security officials to take a more forceful approach in responding to protests around the country sparked by the death of George Floyd.

The president held a call with officials on Monday morning, after a week of protests and riots around the US. On the call, the president urged governors and law enforcement officials to “dominate” the protesters, according to a source who listened in.

Trump, the source said, repeatedly urged the participants to act more forcefully, and also urged the officials and governors not to be weak.

Some governors pushed back, though others did not, at what multiple officials listening in characterized it as an extended rant by the president.

Trump also said states should enact laws against flag burning.

Updated

CBS News has obtained the audio of some of Trump’s remarks to the country’s governors, in which he urged the state leaders to “dominate” the activists protesting the killing of George Floyd.

“You have to dominate,” Trump says in the clip. “If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you. You’re going to look like a bunch of jerks.”

As Trump told governors that they needed to “dominate” the demonstrators protesting the killing of George Floyd, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was talking about how “it matters what presidents say.”

Biden held an event at Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Delaware, this morning to address the protests, marking his first in-person campaign event since March.

The former vice president attended a Memorial Day event last week, which was his first public appearance since the start of the coronavirus crisis.

Trump to governors: You have to 'dominate' protesters

During his video teleconference with the nation’s governors, Trump told the state leaders that they needed to “dominate” the protesters, according to the Guardian’s Daniel Strauss.

The president repeatedly told the governors that they needed to take more severe action against the demonstrators who are protesting in response to the killing of George Floyd.

Several people on the call were alarmed by the president’s message, according to a Washington Post reporter.

Updated

Trump to governors: 'Most of you are weak'

Trump reportedly told the nation’s govenors that they needed to more harshly crack down on the George Floyd protests currently intensifying across the country.

“Most of you are weak,” the president told the governors during a video teleconference, according to the Associated Press.

The remarks appear to be another attempt by the president to shift responsibility from the federal government to state and local officials.

Trump similarly insisted that states were in charge of overseeing and expanding coronavirus testing, as his administration was criticized for failing to meet testing demands amid the pandemic.

DC mayor Muriel Bowser has announced the city will enforce a 7 pm curfew for the next two nights, after a church near the White House caught fire last night and police officers fired teargas into crowds of protesters.

Bowser enforced an 11 pm curfew last night, which White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany criticized as too lenient in a Fox News interview this morning.

“I think when you look at some of the befuddling actions, like right here in DC, the mayor of D.C. didn’t issue a curfew until 11 pm,” McEnany said. “Well, guess what? At 10 pm you had St. John’s Church burning. Several other cities had curfews at 4 pm, at 5 pm, at 6 pm.”

McEnany added, “Some of the actions are really not tough enough, as the president noted, particularly with the mayor here in DC.”

Updated

New York mayor Bill de Blasio added that he did not know his daughter had been arrested while protesting Saturday night until his office was contacted by journalists.

“I found out when my staff got the media inquiry,” de Blasio told reporters this morning. “I knew that she’d been out protesting peacefully on Thursday night. I never heard from her after.”

According to reports, Chiara de Blasio, 25, was taken into custody after blocking an intersection in Manhattan. She gave her address as a residence on East End Avenue, where the mayor’s home is located, but she did not tell police officers she was de Blasio’s daughter.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio said two NYPD cruisers driving into a crowd of protesters Saturday was “dangerous” and “unacceptable.”

“There is no situation where a police vehicle should drive into a crowd of protesters or New Yorkers of any kind,” de Blasio said.

The mayor’s comments came two days after a video of the incident went viral and sparked severe criticism of the NYPD.

De Blasio initially offered a much softer review of the incident. “I’ve seen that video and I’ve obviously heard about a number of other instances,” the mayor said Saturday.

“It’s inappropriate for protesters to surround a police vehicle and threaten police officers. That’s wrong on its face, and that hasn’t happened in the history of protests in the city.”

Well-known congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took a much more severe line on the issue, saying the officers involved “need to be brought to justice.”

Leyland Cecco reports for the Guardian from Toronto, Canada:

As protests intensified throughout the United States over the weekend, thousands also took to the streets in Canada, both to express outrage over the killing of George Floyd — but also to highlight systemic troubles rampant within Canada’s own police systems.

In Toronto, attendees paid to tribute to the life of 29-year-old Regis Korchinski-Paquet, an Afro-Indigenous woman who died last week after police responded to a mental health emergency at her family’s apartment. Korchinski-Paquet fell 24 stories from her balcony— an incident a police watchdog is now probing.

“I want to acknowledge the hurt, frustration, anger and emotional fatigue many people are feeling across North America including in our own city,” Toronto mayor John Tory said in a statement, praising the peaceful gathering.

In Vancouver, thousands gathered downtown to pay tribute to Floyd, calling for justice after the unarmed Minnesota man was killed by a police officer.

Large crowds also gathered in Montreal to protest against police brutality. “It’s important for everyone to be here today so that we can have a lot of voices to say the George Floyd event is not a singular event,” Marie-Livia Beauge, one of the event organizers, told the Canadian Press. “It keeps happening and it’s happening here in Montreal so to be here together is to show solidarity and denounce the injustice.”

Organizers used the event to express anger over the killing of Floyd, but also of the victims of police violence within Montreal in recent years.

Hours after the rally ended Sunday afternoon, police used teargas to disperse a small group of demonstrators that had returned to the city’s police headquarters. Police claimed that protestors hurled projectiles at officers as the two sides clashed. A number of windows along the downtown Ste Catherine Street were also smashed.

Updated

Obama offers advice to protesters while condemning violence

Barack Obama has once again weighed in on the George Floyd protests, suggesting the demonstrations could translate to “peaceful, sustained, and effective action” to address structural racism.

In a new Medium post, the former president applauded the peaceful protesters who had marched to draw attention to Floyd’s killing, but he condemned those who had engaged in violent behavior.

“The overwhelming majority of participants have been peaceful, courageous, responsible, and inspiring. They deserve our respect and support, not condemnation,” Obama said.

“On the other hand, the small minority of folks who’ve resorted to violence in various forms, whether out of genuine anger or mere opportunism, are putting innocent people at risk.”

Obama emphasized that the protests had to translate into policy that would help to prevent more deaths like Floyd’s.

“I’ve heard some suggest that the recurrent problem of racial bias in our criminal justice system proves that only protests and direct action can bring about change, and that voting and participation in electoral politics is a waste of time,” Obama said. “I couldn’t disagree more.”

He continued, “[E]ventually, aspirations have to be translated into specific laws and institutional practices — and in a democracy, that only happens when we elect government officials who are responsive to our demands.”

Obama concluded by saying these protests could mark the beginning of a new chapter for the country. “If, going forward, we can channel our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained, and effective action, then this moment can be a real turning point in our nation’s long journey to live up to our highest ideals,” he wrote.

Updated

The Guardian’s Chris McGreal, Julian Borger, Sam Levin and Maanvi Singh report:

Protests in response to the killing of George Floyd continued across the country last night, as many cities’ curfews went ignored by demonstrators.

Here are some the key events that took place yesterday:

  • Minneapolis: A fuel semi-truck drove into a demonstration of thousands of people on a bridge near the city’s downtown, though authorities say no one was injured after the “disturbing” incident.
  • Outside the White House: Intense unrest broke out in Lafayette Park, right in front of the White House, when police advanced to enforce the curfew. The basement of the “Church of the Presidents,” located opposite the White House briefly caught fire, before firefighters rushed to put it out.
  • Elsewhere in Washington: Officers fired teargas into the crowds, and US marshals personnel and DEA agents were deployed in addition to national guard and Secret Service to assist the police.
  • Los Angeles: Police fired teargas and other projectiles at protesters blocking a main shopping road in the Santa Monica neighborhood. On one shopping street numerous buildings and businesses were looted, including clothing and shoe stores.
  • New York: Thousands of protesters returned to the streets, marching through Manhattan during the day and later congregating at Union Square, where numerous police cars had been torched on Saturday night. Fires were again set on the streets amid clashes between officers and protesters.
  • Atlanta: Teargas was again used by police on the streets; two officers were fired and three placed on desk duty over excessive use of force on Saturday night.

The blog will be following additional updates from each of those cities, so stay tuned.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she would hold a briefing today at 2 pm ET, which did not appear on the original White House schedule.

McEnany made the announcement during a Fox News interview, during which she was also asked if Trump would deliver a national address about the George Floyd protests.

“A national Oval Office address is not going to stop antifa. What’s going to stop antifa is action,” McEnany said, adding that Trump “has several meetings pertaining to that today.”

“And that’s his focus, is acting and keeping our streets safe,” McEnany said.

Trump will meet today with attorney general William Barr, who spent the weekend echoing the president’s talking points by blaming the protests on “far-left extremist groups” and demanding “law and order” be restored.

Several hundred “Black Lives Matter” protesters marched on the headquarters of Rio de Janeiro’s state government on Sunday to denounce a wave of police killings.

Rio police gunned down 177 people in April - many of them young black men from Rio’s favelas such as João Pedro Mattos Pinto.

João Pedro, a church-going high school student, was gunned down on 18 May during a police raid on a favela in São Gonçalo, a city 10 miles northeast of the state capital. The 14-year-old had been playing with friends at the home of his uncle and aunt when heavily armed police stormed the building. Dozens of bullet holes were found inside the home and friends and relatives believe the teenager was shot through the back by police during the botched raid.

Protestors at Sunday’s demo demanded justice for João Pedro and carried banners reading: “Black and favela lives matter” and “Stop killing us!”

Many drew parallels with the rallies taking place in the US in response to the killing of George Floyd.

“Just like our brothers and sisters across the Americas, we will shout: ‘IF THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE WILL BE NO PEACE FOR OUR EXECUTIONERS’,” tweeted Buba Aguiar, a favela activist from west Rio.

One poster circulated on social media featuring the pictures of both George Floyd and João Pedro.

Further #VidasNegrasImportam (#BlackLivesMatter) protests are planned for this weekend amid growing anger that Rio’s notoriously violent police force continues to launch often deadly assaults on the favelas despite the coronavirus crisis.

Only once in the last 20 years have Rio police killed more people in a single month than in April 2020.

One dead in Kentucky after police 'returned fire'

A person died in Louisville early this morning after police officers and the Kentucky National Guard “returned fire” from a group of protestes, according to governor Andy Beshear.

The Democratic governor said the Kentucky state police would “independently investigate the event.”

Louisville metro police chief Steve Conrad said his officers had been sent to disperse a crowd in a parking lot at approximately 12.15 am.

“Officers and soldiers began to clear the lot and at some point were shot at,” Conrad said in a statement. “Both LMPD and national guard members returned fire, we have one man dead at scene.”

Protests have been particularly tense in Louisville, where a black woman named Breonna Taylor was killed in her home in March by Louisville police while they were executing a “no-knock” warrant for her residence.

Correction: A previous version of this post said the warrant was issued for Taylor’s boyfriend, but it was issued for her residence in connection to a narcotics investigation, of which Taylor was not the main focus.

Updated

This is Joan Greve, taking over for Martin Pengelly.

The daughter of the current mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, was reportedly arrested during protests in Manhattan on Saturday night.

Chiara de Blasio, 25, was reportedly taken into custody after refusing to move from the intersection of 12th Street and Broadway, where protesters were blocking traffic.

According to the New York Post, de Blasio gave her address as a residence on East End Avenue, where the mayor’s home is located, but she did not tell police officers who she was.

About an hour after his daughter’s arrest, de Blasio told protesters that it was “time to go home.”

“We appreciate and respect all peaceful protests, but now it is time for people to go home,” de Blasio said at a press conference.

“If you went out peacefully to make a point about the need for change, you have been heard and change is coming in the city. I have no doubt about that. It’s time to go home so we can all move forward.”

Updated

Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, Trump personal attorney and key player in/cause of Trump’s impeachment, is up and tweeting, giving voice to a theme we are sure to hear more and more as a presidential election draws near:

Now with 7 days of Mob rule of cities with mostly DEMOCRAT MAYORS, it is obvious that these Mayors are incapable of protecting their citizens. They enable the rioters by abandoning police precincts for burning and ordering police to stand down and be assaulted without arrest.”

Trump himself put the Republican campaign message more pithily on Sunday night, tweeting Nixonianly, if also as Twitter noted gleefully Sam Waterston-ly: “LAW & ORDER!”

Many Democratic mayors, some of them African American, spoke to the nation via the Sunday talk shows. Among them, Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta, Muriel Bowser of Washington DC and Melvin Carter, mayor of St Paul, twin city of Minneapolis, the fierce centre of the current rage. Bottoms and Bowser gave a joint interview to NBC’s Meet the Press.

Giuliani followed up on Monday by claiming “a riot was impossible when I was Mayor”.

It’s true that he wasn’t mayor, instead a candidate for mayor, when in September 1992 he stoked a racist riot by police officers.

As we reported in 2016, officers dissatisfied with mayor David Dinkins marched across the Brooklyn Bridge and gathered at City Hall, where “The New York Times described … a “beer-swilling, traffic-snarling, epithet-hurling melee” [and] Newsday compared city hall to an “embassy in some far-off hostile land … under siege”.

Here’s more from Spencer Ackerman, Lois Beckett and Jamiles Lartey:

Giuliani’s approach to policing created “an environment of terror for communities of color”, said Lumumba Bandele, a lifelong New Yorker and police reform advocate. If he takes on a national role, “We should all be preparing for worst-case scenarios,” he said.

His record on police abuses and freedom of expression is “frightening”, said Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter.

'Blue Lives Matter' flag raised by Cincinnati officers

In bizarre scenes in Cincinnati on Sunday, a sheriff confirmed that a “Thin Blue Line” flag was raised outside a law enforcement building, in place of the Stars and Stripes.

Pictures of the flag went viral, stoking anger nationwide among people protesting the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, the latest case to fuel the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality.

In the words of the Associated Press, “the Blue Lives Matter flag is a black-and-white US flag with a blue stripe replacing one white stripe. Thin Blue Line USA, the group that sells the flags, says the thin blue line represents officers in the line of duty and the black represents fallen officers.”

Cincinnati has like other major cities been the setting for protest over the last three nights. Local media has extensive coverage.

On Sunday, Hamilton County sheriff Jim Neil said the American flag that usually flies outside the county Justice Center “was stolen during the Vandalism of the Justice Center. The Thin Blue Line was raised by our deputies to honor the CPD Officer who was shot. The flag has been removed and we will replace it with the American Flag in the morning.”

Local media reported that the officer in question had been struck on his helmet by a bullet, but was not injured.

Chris Seelbach, chair of the Cincinnati city council, who was tagged in the sheriff’s tweet, tweeted back at his fellow Democrat: “Should have been replaced with American flag immediately. Not replaced with a politically charged blue lives matter flag when thousands are protesting in our streets because #BlackLivesMatter. Sheriff Neil has only made things worse. Again.”

In Portland, Oregon last year, a government employee won $100,000 in a settlement after she alleged she was bullied by fellow employees who displayed the flag in her office. As the AP reported then, in her lawsuit against Multnomah county, Karimah Guion-Pledgure said the flag demeaned the Black Lives Matter movement.”

In Cincinnati on Monday, local ABC affiliate WCPO reported that protest organisers had released a list of goals, intending “to deliver a clear message to the media, local politicians, the Cincinnati police department and people of Cincinnati as to the goal of recent protests.

“The first item on the list calls for Derek Chauvin, the officer arrested for Floyd’s death, to receive the maximum sentence for his charges and for the other three officers involved in Floyd’s death to be charged as well.

“The remaining items on the list concern the Cincinnati area. Some of the items include a call for the demilitarization of the Cincinnati police department, independent internal affairs investigators and civilian oversight boards and a call for CPD officers to spend ‘80 hours a year volunteering in the communities they patrol’.”

Here’s some further reading from Nathan Robinson, on how across America, police are responding to peaceful protests with violence:

On Donald Trump’s schedule today, a meeting with attorney general William Barr, who over the weekend played legal bulldog to Trump’s snapping German Shepherd (or Belgian Malinois?), making statements to back up the president’s fury at “antifa” anti-fascist groups he blames for the trouble consuming the nation.

William Barr.
William Barr. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

Then, at 11am, Trump “hosts a video teleconference with governors, law enforcement, and national security officials on keeping American communities safe”.

On Twitter, the various former Republican consultants at the Lincoln Project, among others, have been attempting to fuel ridicule of the president for being taken on Friday night to the reinforced bunker under the White House which Dick Cheney and George W Bush used on and after 9/11.

It might be a little unfair – the Secret Service determined to take the president there, the New York Times reported – but remember that the following morning Trump was up and crowing on Twitter about the “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons” that would’ve awaited protesters in Lafayette Square had they somehow breached the White House walls.

Many African American politicians, among them Washington mayor Muriel Bowser, rebuked Trump for using such imagery, redolent as it is of the worst excesses of authority in the civil rights era.

Of William Barr, by the by, this is from Stuart Gerson, a former acting attorney general, to the New York Times, in a piece entitled “William Barr’s State of Emergency”:

“Those who think he’s a tool of Donald Trump are missing the point. If anything, it’s the other way around. Barr is vastly more intelligent than Donald Trump. What Trump gives Bill Barr is a canvas upon which to paint. Bill has longstanding views about how society should be organized, which can now be manifested and acted upon to a degree that they never could have before.”

As far as what Barr is hoping to do with his canvas, Gerson says he is committed to the “hierarchical” and “authoritarian” premise that “a top-down ordering of society will produce a more moral society.”

Good morning…

…and welcome to another day of coverage of the protests arising from the police killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man who died in Minneapolis a week ago, when a police officer kneeled on his neck.

The US is now in the grip of the worst civil unrest since the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, in the violent year of 1968. With overnight curfews ignored, major and minor cities have become the scene of confrontation between protesters and riot police, looters and the national guard. Thousands have been arrested. There have been fatalities and frightening attacks. Fires have been reported in many cities, Washington and Philadelphia among them. Julian Borger, our world affairs editor, reports from DC:

Violent protest has lapped up against the White House, where on Sunday night officials confirmed that Donald Trump was taken to a protective bunker on Friday.

Trump, who did not address the nation on Sunday other than by tweeting – he did speak of his shock at Floyd’s death in Florida on Saturday – blames leftwing agitators for the trouble and has tweeted harsh and insensitive words, attracting criticism from many sides for an abdication of leadership in a time of crisis.

Here’s a powerful piece from our columnist Robert Reich. And here’s an equally powerful take from David Smith, our Washington bureau chief, who spoke to leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement about how this moment in American history has left the president exposed:

LaTosha Brown, a civil rights activist and co-founder of Black Voters Matter: “If it would take the destruction of the country for him to protect his position, he is willing to do that. He has shown that he is willing to kill every single thing in this country, including its people, if it protects him.

“He’s willing to kill democracy. He is willing to kill any sense of real respect or trust in his government. He is willing to kill America’s international and global relationships. He is a destroyer.”

All this, remember, comes on top of a coronavirus pandemic which has killed more than 104,000 people in America, cratering the economy and stoking political and cultural battles over how quickly to open back up. On Sunday, governors and mayors warned of the potential toll in Covid-19 cases from so many protests in so many tightly packed – and tightly wound – cities.

More to come, as America wakes.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
RuPaul Rejects Neutral Minimalism: A Deep Dive Into the Dusty Pink Entryway That Redefines Modern Hollywood Glamour
RuPaul's luxe entryway features black, white, and marble fixtures alongside a subtle, pink-painted wall for a distinct and timeless look
Homes & Gardens
Homes & Gardens
Survey says more Americans believe Bad Bunny ‘better represents’ US than Donald Trump
A recent survey has revealed that a majority of Americans think Bad Bunny better represents America compared to Donald Trump, who lashed out at the Puerto Rican singer's Super Bowl halftime show - the first sung exclusively in Spanish.
Euronews
Euronews
“He was my security guard”: Clavicular fuels controversy after Brianna Chickenfry questions his real age and past security job
Clavicular has come under scrutiny after Brianna Chickenfry questioned his age, claiming he worked as a bar security guard three years ago despite reportedly being only 20 now. The timeline sparked speculation online about whether he misrepresented his age or used a fake ID. The viral debate has raised broader…
The Times of India
The Times of India
Big feelings: 5 ways parents can help kids learn to regulate their emotions
Parenting can be hard and can feel especially overwhelming when children have strong emotions, such as anger, frustration or excitement, that they are not always able to regulate on their own.
The Conversation
The Conversation
Robert Duvall obituary
Veteran American actor admired for his roles in Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Florida Embraces New Urbanist Mega-Developments
Plus: Zohran Mamdani's rent rip-off hearings exclude public housing tenants, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is a "yes" on rent control, and the intersection of zoning and qualified immunity.
Reason
Reason
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play