Thousands of soldiers were patrolling major U.S. cities on Sunday (31,05,2020) after five consecutive nights of protests against racism and police brutality that led to riots. A total of 25 cities in 16 states decreed a night curfew and 5,000 National Guard troops were deployed.
Saturday night was especially violent on the streets of New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Las Vegas, Seattle, Des Moines, Memphis, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Portland, Chicago, and even the capital Washington. Routes were cut, cars and shops burned down, while law enforcement, deployed in large numbers, responded with tear gas and in some cases rubber bullets.
According to Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, the epicentre of the demonstrations, those responsible for the chaotic situation could be anarchists, white supremacists or drug traffickers. President Donald Trump, instead, accused the “radical left” and anti-fascist groups of encountering themselves behind the dismantling. The opposition has criticized the representative for “enerning the spirits,” having called the protesters “thugs.”
Dozens of wounded
In Washington, meanwhile, some seventy Secret Service and Metropolitan Police officers were injured during Saturday night riots near the White House. The Secret Service, which is responsible for the security of the presidential mansion, confirmed that dozens of its agents were wounded by the launch of “projectiles such as bricks, stones, bottles, firecrackers and other objects” against them.
Meanwhile, some 5,000 National Guard troops, a corps in the reserve, have been activated in 15 states and the District of Columbia. That force also required some 2,000 troops prepared to join the ranks. During this week’s altercations, at least three people have been killed by gunfire in Indianapolis, Detroit and Oakland, from which police have disassociated.
The death of George Floyd, an African-American citizen who died after a brutal police arrest, has become the latest symbol of police violence against black people and has provoked the biggest wave of protests in recent years in the United States.
