WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st May, 2020) US police used tear gas to disperse protests in Washington on Saturday evening, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene.
Several people outraged at the death of African American George Floyd in police custody were throwing plastic bottles with water at police officers and then came close to the cordon.
The police used balloons with tear substance dispersing the coughing crowd. The correspondent did not see any injuries.
Also, the correspondent reported that the protesters had set a Chevrolet Suburban on fire near the White House. This model of vehicles is largely used by special services and police. The police threw several flash-bombs to disperse the crowd.
By late evening, the police fully cleared the city center of protesters.
Protests erupted in various cities across the United States this week after George Floyd, an African-American man, died in police custody on Monday. He was detained outside the Cup Foods corner store in Minneapolis on Monday evening, after a store clerk called the police claiming that Floyd had paid for cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill.
A video circulating online shows Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis white police officer, pinning unarmed Floyd to the ground with his knee; Floyd repeatedly says that he cannot breathe until becoming unresponsive. Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. A total of four police officers have been fired in connection with the incident.
