WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st May, 2020) Police are preventing participants in the George Floyd protest in Washington DC from getting too close to the White House, journalists from the White House press pool report.
On Saturday, temporary barriers were set up in such a way that the protesters ended up on the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, a block away from the White House, according to reporters.
On Friday, about 1,000 people took part in the George Floyd protest in Washington DC, in the Lafayette Square park directly north of the White House. At least six people were detained.
Protests erupted across the United States this week after George Floyd, an African-American man, died in police custody on Monday, after a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes. A video circulating online shows Derek Chauvin pinning unarmed Floyd to the ground with his knee; Floyd repeatedly tells the police officer that he cannot breathe until becoming unresponsive.
A total of four police officers involved in the arrest have been fired. Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. The US Department of Justice has made the FBI investigation into Floyd's death a top priority.
US President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that if the unrest continues in US cities, then the Federal government would step in and the military would be used. Speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Trump said the death of George Floyd was a grave tragedy but warned against surrendering to hostility. Trump stressed that every US citizen has the right to be safe in their workplace, home and city streets.
