Police launched tear gas on Sunday at the White House to disperse a demonstration against police violence and racism in the United States , The Eastern Herald representative saw.
A crowd of protesters had gathered outside the residence of President Donald Trump ignoring the curfew imposed in the American capital.
After a night of looting and fires in the US capital in protests of police violence, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced this Sunday a curfew and the activation of the National Guard to prevent further revolts, despite which some have already registered incidents.
In a message on her Twitter account, the mayor reported that “I call upon our city and our nation to exercise great restraint even while this President continues to try to divide us”
I call upon our city and our nation to exercise great restraint even while this President continues to try to divide us. Our power is in peace, in our voices and ultimately at the ballot box in November…
— Muriel Bowser (@MurielBowser) May 30, 2020
He also indicated that he has activated the National Guard of the District of Columbia to support the Metropolitan Police in controlling the protests that have occurred in recent days and that led to looting, vandalism, and fires on Saturday.
Despite the city’s preparations, hundreds of protesters gathered in the late afternoon to march from Howard University to the city center to start the protest.
On 14th Street, the first confrontations with the police had already taken place, after the burning of a patrol car, and the agents threw rubber balls and attacked those present, including several journalists.
Several hundred protesters also gathered in Lafayette Park, in front of the White House, where protests have started in recent days for the death of African-American citizen George Floyd last Monday in Minneapolis (Minnesota) when he was detained by the police. accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill.
The police, with riot gear, remain located behind the fences located in front of the fence of the White House garden, without any incidents having been registered.
In days gone by, protesters staged skirmishes with the police there, but on Saturday night the protests spread to other areas, ending with clashes with the police, broken windows, looted shops, and fires.
The source of the protests is the death of African-American George Floyd, 40, in an incident that was videotaped by passers-by and has sparked outrage across the country.
The video shows a white officer, who has later been charged with murder and reckless manslaughter, subjecting Floyd to the ground, climbing on him and pressing his knee to his neck for several minutes, ignoring his pleas that he couldn’t breathe .
” Please, please, please, I can not breathe. Please, ” Floyd is heard to say as he is dying, a scene that has created riots in the great cities of the United States.
