WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th June, 2020) Braving a heatwave and a torrential rain, hundreds of advocates for racial equality held their vigil in Washington, DC and kept it peaceful for a third day in a row despite a lifted curfew and a reduced security presence in the US capital.
Protesters who sought to make their voice heard in the White House were allowed to streets in the center of the city, but Lafayette Park, which separates it from the Presidential residence, is still off-limits, encircled with a temporary metal fence and police officers deep inside the perimeter to reduce frictions.
People would occasionally kick the fence, raise their hands, chant "Don't shoot," "No justice, no peace," "Black lives matter." In tribute to George Floyd, an African American man whose death in custody sparked nationwide protests, they knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the duration of a Minneapolis police officer suppressing Floyd's neck.
Speakers vowed to carry on the fight against racially motivated brutality and discrimination beyond the punishment of the immediate culprits and urged the crowd to make wise electoral decisions. "Use your power to take them out," one of them said, pointing at the White House.
The rally continued even when a heavy rain with thunderstorms started.
The municipality decided not to renew the curfew on Thursday and the Pentagon has withdrawn a large portion of its units deployed in the capital after violence and looting marred protests in the city last weekend. At least 114 law enforcement officers have been injured in Washington clashes, with 22 of them hospitalized, according to official data.
