National Guard Deployed in Minneapolis After 4th Day of Violent Protests; Riots Spread Across The Country

Protests triggered by the police killing of George Floyd, as well as long-simmering discontent at brutally racist and violent systems, surged in cities all across the U.S. on Friday night.

In Minneapolis, where 46-year-old Floyd was killed after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for at least eight minutes, protests continued for a fourth night.

While saying he was “urging for peace,” Minneapolis Governor Tim Walz called in the Minnesota National Guard, State Patrol, and local police to take to the streets on Friday to enforce a curfew.

The governor told local media that it was the largest deployment of the state’s national guard in Minneapolis history, according to KIMT News 3.

350 state troopers alone were deployed to clear the area around the city’s 5th precinct, CNN reported. Videos posted on social media show that the state authorities continued to use teargas against protesters.

Firefighters doused out fires across the burning city.

Atlanta

Violence erupted in Atlanta yesterday when protesters took to the streets in rage and set fire to a building which houses the headquarters of CNN.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms held a press conference later that day to censure protesters for the violence.

“We are better than this. We are better than this as a city. We are better than this as a country,” she said. “You’re throwing knives at our police officers. You are burning cars. You have defaced the CNN building.”

Though black people in Georgia both vote and are registered to vote at a higher percentage than their white counterparts in the state, the Mayor told the protesters in Atlanta to seek the change they want to see in this country by voting.

Atlanta rapper Killer Mike, who days ago penned an op-ed calling on black people to arm themselves with guns, took to the stage at the press conference to tell the protesters to go home and “come up with real solutions” and also called for increased accountability for police:

T.I. also took to the stage to plead with protesters to protect the city of Atlanta, which he equated to a real-life Wakanda (seriously).

Detroit

Protests in Detroit were marked by scuffles between demonstrators and police, who used teargas and pepper spay to disperse protesters, Fox 2 reported.

A protester in Detroit was also shot and killed yesterday in an apparent drive-by shooting:

From Fox 2:

At 11:30 p.m. one protester was shot and killed when a gray Dodge Durango pulled up and someone inside opened fire into the crowd, hitting a 19-year-old at Congress and Randolph. The wounded man died at the hospital from his injuries, according to Detroit police.

New York

In New York, the scene between demonstrators and protesters was also violent. Videos posted on social media show police officers accosting protesters who gathered near the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, beating them with batons and flinging them to the ground:

Louisville

In Louisville, where 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was gunned down and killed in her home by policee, officers were captured on camera firing pepper bullets at a member of the press:

Crowds also gathered in Baltimore, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and in front of the White House in Washington D.C., to protest against police brutality in America. Demonstrations are expected to continue across the country today.