Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said on Saturday that the state's National Guard would be fully mobilized for the first time in its history due to the protests that erupted in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, at the hands of a white police officer in the US city of Minneapolis
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th May, 2020) Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said on Saturday that the state's National Guard would be fully mobilized for the first time in its history due to the protests that erupted in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, at the hands of a white police officer in the US city of Minneapolis.
"I am authorizing and talking to [Major] General [Jon] Jensen to fully mobilize the Minnesota National Guard an action that has never been taken in the 164-year history of the Minnesota National Guard," Walz said at a press conference, as broadcast by the NBC news channel.
Earlier in the day, the National Guard wrote on Twitter that over 1,000 forces joined today the 700 servicemen who were on duty as of last night.
Public unrest erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd died following his arrest by the four officers. A video that spread online shows a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd repeatedly told the police officer that he cannot breathe until becoming unresponsive. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.
The four police officers were fired. Derek Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.
