The White House has gone into lockdown as protesters tried to scale the walls, battled with Secret Service and burned American flags during protests over George Floyd’s death.
Violence has erupted across the US for a fourth night Friday, with protesters gathering at the city where Floyd was killed Minneapolis, his hometown of Houston and the home of US democracy Washington DC.
The protests have now reached the seat of the US government, with protesters marching to the White House, sending it into lockdown.
Secret Service officers have stopped anyone entering the White House grounds, where President Trump is currently in residence, after a demonstrator tried to scale the fence in Lafayette Park to get inside.
The protests have now reached the seat of the US government, with protesters marching to the White House, sending it into lockdown
The White House has gone into lockdown as one protester above tried to scale the walls (center)
The man was manhandled by Secret Service out of the park and taken into custody at the Treasury Annex.
Crowds followed law enforcement and the man to the jail and staged another protest outside – this one calling for a medic for the man after he was seen with blood pouring down his face, sparking renewed fears over police brutality and for the safety of a man held in custody.
As Trump sits securely locked inside the grounds, outrage continues to boil over his Tweets warning protesters that ‘when the looting starts the shooting starts.’
Over in Minneapolis, protesters have been running rampant for the past three nights in a show of outrage that has seen a suspected looter shot dead in the street, a Minneapolis police precinct stormed and set alight, and the city up in flames as businesses and stores were looted and torched.
Amid fears that the chaos is entering a fourth night, the twin cities of Minnesota imposed curfews starting at 8p.m. tonight in efforts to bring the rioting and destruction under control.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced a nighttime curfew barring anyone other than essential workers and public safety personnel from being in public places across the city from 8p.m. through to 6 a.m. local time and lasting for the weekend.
Over in Minneapolis, protesters have been running rampant for the past three nights in a show of outrage
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter followed suit with a matching citywide curfew as he declared a state of emergency for the city, after 170 businesses were destroyed when protests turned violent Thursday night.
The city of Roseville – which shares borders with both of the twin cities – followed with its own emergency declaration and curfew.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Friday admitted an ‘abject failure’ by law enforcement in trying to control crowds Thursday night.
On Thursday, as tensions in the city boiled all day, the National Guard started putting in motion plans to intervene to help local law enforcement agencies that were struggling to cope with the mounting threat.
In Houston, where Floyd grew up before he moved to Minneapolis for a new start in life, huge protests erupted Friday as people insisted that this is not.
The demonstration, which was organized by Black Lives Matter, saw thousands of protesters process up Main Street to City Hall shouting ‘can’t breathe’ and ‘enough is enough’.
In Houston, where Floyd grew up before he moved to Minneapolis for a new start in life, huge protests erupted Friday as people insisted that this is not
The demonstration, which was organized by Black Lives Matter, saw thousands of protesters process up Main Street to City Hall shouting ‘can’t breathe’ and ‘enough is enough’
Others in the throng chanted: ‘Justice for George’, “Black Lives Matter’ and ‘We want change’.
According to the group’s Facebook page, at least 1,800 people turned out, although there appeared to be far more.
One protester described the death of Floyd, who lived in Houston most of his life, as a ‘modern day lynching’.
Rebecca Bozeman told DailyMail.com: ‘Enough is enough. The people have to come out and do their part or nothing will change.
‘It’s been 400 years and it’s still happening. We saw a modern-day lynching. It should not be happening.’
Her friend Sylvia Clinton added: ‘Call it what it is. He was lynched. It was a modern-day lynching.’
Protesters in Manhattan were also seen clashing with officers of the New York Police Department on Thursday as they convened at Union Square to protest the killing of George Floyd.
Shocking footage shows one officer beating a protester to the point that he breaks his baton on the man as other cops try to apprehend folks in the crowded Manhattan area.
Another clip shows officers pushing people to the ground as protesters try to help others from the grasps of the authorities. Some police can be heard telling others to back up.
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Shocking footage shows one officer beating a protester to the point that he breaks his baton on the man as other cops try to apprehend folks in Manhattan’s Union Square on Thursday
A remnant piece of the baton can be seen on the ground as the officer then grabs the man he just hit
One woman screams ‘Black Lives Matter’ as she is carried away to a police van by two officers.
At least 14 were taken into custody during the demonstrations in Union Square.
Crowds can be heard chanting: ‘No justice. No peace. F**k these racist a*s police.’
Both police and protesters were blocking the streets around Union Square at various points.
People can be seen trying to help others get away from authorities. At least 14 were taken into custody during the demonstrations in Union Square
Crowds can be heard chanting: ‘No justice. No peace. F**k these racist a*s police’
Most in the crowd were wearing masks but there were both cops and protesters who were not.
Another, longer clip shows officers involved in a scuffle with one group of protesters. Someone in the background can be heard instructing white people to go to the front, so that they can create a barrier of protection around other protesters.
Several white protesters go to the front and form a barrier, continuing to scream at police.
The protests are among the latest to have sparked in response to the killing of George Floyd on Monday.
Both police and protesters were blocking the streets around Union Square at various points
Most in the crowd were wearing masks but there were both cops and protesters who were not
Protesters flee from police officers in Manhattan
Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been taken into custody over the death of Floyd, four days after he was seen kneeling on his neck in a video of his arrest that has sparked violent protests across the country.
The 44-year-old white cop was arrested by state investigators on Friday afternoon, Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington announced.
Chauvin was one of four officers fired over Floyd’s death earlier this week however, Harrington did not provide details on the other three cops.
The state attorney who would oversee any prosecution on state charges, whose home was also the site of protests, is scheduled to provide an update later Friday.
Protests over Floyd’s death have spread nationwide and has resulted in rioting in Minneapolis, where a police precinct was overrun and set on fire overnight on Thursday.
An officer tries to stop a man at the protests who his riding a Citi Bike
Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been taken into custody over the death of Floyd, four days after he was seen kneeling on his neck in a video of his arrest that has sparked violent protests across the country
Protests have sparked across the country after video of the Floyd’s final moments went viral on Monday
It follows high-profile protests and riots in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore in 2015, over the police-involved deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, respectively.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Friday acknowledged the ‘abject failure’ of the response to this week’s violent protests and called for swift justice for police involved in the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white officer knelt on his neck.
Walz said the state would take over the response and that it´s time to show respect and dignity to those who are suffering.
‘Minneapolis and St. Paul are on fire. The fire is still smoldering in our streets. The ashes are symbolic of decades and generations of pain, of anguish unheard,’ Walz said, adding. ‘Now generations of pain is manifesting itself in front of the world – and the world is watching.’
NYPD issues ‘officer safety alert’ after Brooklyn man posts on social media ‘cop killings are gonna become a thing and I’m here for it’
The New York City Police Department has issued an ‘officer safety alert’ urging law enforcement officials to be vigilant in response to a Brooklyn man’s online comments invoking ‘cop killings.’
The alert was sent out to service members by the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau Threat Assessment and Protection Unit on Thursday amid increasingly violent protests in Minneapolis, New York City and cities all over the US demanding justice for George Floyd.
Floyd, a handcuffed African-American man, died after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes and ignored his desperate pleas that he could not breathe.
Chauvin was arrested this afternoon and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Khaalid Anderson’s tweet referencing cop killings has prompted the NYPD to issue a safety alert warning officers to be vigilant
Anderson also wrote on Facebook about an hour after firing off the tweet
Anderson (pictured) lives in Brooklyn. He has not been charged with any crime
According to the NYPD alert, which was first reported on by investigative journalist Shawn Cohen in Twitter and picked up by Fox News, Khaalid Anderson, from Brooklyn, allegedly wrote on social media, ‘Cop killings are gonna be a thing…somebody gotta die.’
The memo goes on to say there ‘there is currently no probable cause for arrest. MOS (Members of Service) are urged to exercise caution and to remain vigilant. If they should come into contact with this individual, take appropriate action and contact the Intelligence Bureau Threat Assessment Unit.’
A search of Anderson’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts has revealed that the Brooklyn resident have posted multiple messages over the past two days discussing police killings.
In an expletive-filled tweet thread posted early Wednesday morning, Anderson wrote in part: ‘Cop killings is gonna become a thing. We need neighborhood snipers for the police. We need people to pull up on Black Panther time again. I know we’ll send a message and get some s*** done.
The NYPD in its memo noted that there is no probable cause to arrest the man who wrote about cop killings. Anderson stressed on Instagram that he never said he was going to do anything
He addressed the incident on Facebook on Friday, saying that police have been looking for him
‘Authorities gotta die tho.. I can’t see another way. Somebody humble me tho.. Ion wanna do bad when I can do better.’
He struck a similar note in a Facebook post about an hour later, writing: ‘Cop killings are gonna become a thing and I’m here for it.
‘Sucks to say but I feel like it’s gotta come to this in order for things to change. Please humble me if you got a different answer but I feel like somebody gotta die. I don’t see another way unless we pull up on some Black Panther s***. But even then, I feel like somebody still gotta get popped prematurely to let them know “accidents” happen and s*** ain’t a game no mo [sic]. We gotta go to war bout respect.’
As news of the NYPD alert spread on social media, Anderson directly addressed it on multiple platforms.
‘Lol I never said I was gonna do anything lol but I can’t control the world and the people that you officers affect,’ he tweeted this afternoon.
In a status update on Facebook, Anderson claimed that police have repeatedly visited his home looking for him over the past two days, and that they even mistook his roommate for him.
‘I made a tweet about cop killings on Twitter and the laws been on my a** every since lol,’ he wrote.