More than 50 people protesting in the wake of the death in Minneapolis police custody of an African American man have been detained overnight, the CNN broadcaster reported on Saturday, citing authorities
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th May, 2020) More than 50 people protesting in the wake of the death in Minneapolis police custody of an African American man have been detained overnight, the CNN broadcaster reported on Saturday, citing authorities.
A video that went viral earlier this week showed the black man, George Floyd, pinned to the ground by a white police officer with a knee on his neck for several minutes. Floyd begged the police officer for air to breathe until he became unresponsive. Floyd was taken to a local hospital and died shortly after.
Over 2,500 police officers have been deployed in Minneapolis to help maintain order during the protests, according to John Harrington, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner, as cited by the media outlet.
"We recognized that we simply did not, even with the numbers that I'm talking about, have enough officers and personnel to meet all of those missions safely and successfully. We picked missions based on our capacity," Harrington was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.
According to the Minnesota National Guard's Major General Jon Jensen, there could be as many as 1,700 National Guard forces in the city by Sunday, which would be the largest deployment in the history of the state of Minnesota.
"At the conclusion of tomorrow, I believe that we will have over 1,700 soldiers in support of the Department of Public Safety in the city of Minneapolis and the city of Saint Paul," Jensen said, as quoted by the media outlet.
Protesters took to the streets of other states. In Texas' Houston alone, police detained almost 200 people overnight.
"Our officers made nearly 200 arrests of those who participated in unlawful assemblies throughout the day & night. Most will be charged with obstructing a roadway. 4 of our officers suffered minor injuries & 8 police vehicles were damaged," Houston Police wrote on Twitter.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the government cannot allow the situation in Minneapolis to descent into anarchy and chaos and let the looters in Minneapolis and other cities to "drown the voices of so many peaceful protesters."
