The US Secret Services has shut down the roads adjacent to the White House to all traffic until further notice, the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency announced on its website on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd June, 2020) The US Secret Services has shut down the roads adjacent to the White House to all traffic until further notice, the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency announced on its website on Tuesday.
"The United States Secret Service reports the below road closures to vehicular traffic until further notice," the notice said. "17th Street Between Constitution and H Street NW 15th Street between Constitution and H Street, NW H Street between 15th and 17th Street, NW. Please use alternate routes."
Separately, the Secret Service erected chain link fences around the White House to close off Lafayette Square, a public park where protesters have been gathering to denounce the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African American who was killed in police custody.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump said he was taking presidential action to mobilize all available Federal resources to respond to ongoing protests over Floyd's death, including the deployment of thousands of armed troops to quell riots in the nation's capital city.
Trump further said if the governors of US states refuse to take actions necessary to end riots, he will deploy the US military to "quickly solve the problem for them." Trump added that he is dispatching thousands of "heavily-armed" soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting and looting in Washington, DC.
Television footage on CNN on Monday evening showed a large number of police officers in riot gear aggressively charge protesters while deploying tear gas to push the demonstration back in order to clear the area for Trump.
On May 25, the 46-year old Floyd, an African American, died in Minneapolis police custody after a white officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for at least eight minutes. Video evidence surfaced the following day which has sparked nationwide protests many of which have led to violence and rioting.
