President Donald Trump on Tuesday turned up the pressure on governors to quell the violence set off by the death of George Floyd, demanding New York call up the National Guard to stop the 鈥渓owlifes and losers.鈥�
As more demonstrations began taking shape around the country, and cities girded for another round of scattered violence after dark, the president amplified his hard-line calls of a day earlier, in which he threatened to send in the military to restore order if governors didn鈥檛 do it.
鈥淣YC, CALL UP THE NATIONAL GUARD,鈥� he tweeted. 鈥淭he lowlifes and losers are ripping you apart. Act fast! Don鈥檛 make the same horrible and deadly mistake you made with the Nursing Homes!!!鈥�
A day after a crackdown on peaceful protesters near the White House, some demonstrators began protesting in other parts of the nation鈥檚 capital. Hundreds of people gathered along 14th Street, one of the city鈥檚 main arteries, and many in the crowd began walking toward the White House, which had tightened security in place.
Protests were also held in such places as Houston, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Orlando, Florida, where more than 1,000 people gathered in the afternoon to decry the killings of black people.
鈥淭his has to change,鈥� said 39-year-old Aisxia Batiste, an out-of-work massage therapist. 鈥淪omething has to give. We鈥檙e done. This is the beginning of the end of something. It has to be.鈥�
In New York, midtown Manhattan was pocked with battered storefronts. Macy鈥檚 flagship store was among those hit after crowds of people smashed windows and looted stores Monday as they swept through the area. A police sergeant was hospitalized after being hit by a car in the Bronx, where people walked Tuesday between ransacked buildings and a burned-out car on the Grand Concourse, a commercial thoroughfare.
Police made nearly 700 arrests, Mayor Bill de Blasio extended an 8 p.m. curfew all week.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have a tough few days,鈥� he warned, but added: 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to beat it back.鈥� He pleaded with community leaders to step forward and 鈥渃reate peace.鈥�
More than 20,000 National Guard members have been called up in 29 states to deal with the violence. New York is not among them, and De Blasio has said he does not want the Guard. On Tuesday, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo called what happened in the city 鈥渁 disgrace.鈥�
鈥淭he NYPD and the mayor did not do their job last night,鈥� Cuomo said said at a briefing in Albany.
He said the mayor underestimated the problem, and the nation鈥檚 largest police force was not deployed in sufficient numbers, though the city had said it doubled the usual police presence.
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Monday marked the seventh straight night of unrest around the country.
In Atlanta, police fired tear gas at demonstrators. In Nashville, more than 60 National Guard members put down their riot shields at the request of peaceful protesters. At a demonstration in Buffalo, New York, an SUV plowed into a group of officers, injuring three.
An officer was shot and gravely wounded as police tried to disperse a crowd outside a Las Vegas hotel and casino. Four officers were shot in St. Louis; they were expected to recover.
Philadelphia officials described a chaotic night in which one person was killed trying to use explosives to open an ATM, a gun shop owner fatally shot a would-be thief, and a 19-year-old died of injuries during looting.
About a dozen other deaths have been reported around the country over the past week. And nearly 8,000 people nationwide have been arrested for offences such as stealing, blocking highways and breaking curfew, according to a count by The Associated Press.
鈥淲e have been sitting on a powder keg for some time and it has burst,鈥� Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.
Some protesters framed the burgeoning movement as a necessity after a string of killings by police.
鈥淚 fear for my safety every time I get in the car to go for a drive. I fear of getting pulled over. I fear for all 10 of my brothers鈥� and sisters鈥� lives, for my parents鈥� lives!鈥� 19-year-old Amari Burroughs of Parkland, Florida, said Tuesday as she prepared for another protest.
鈥淢y goal is to use my voice and my leadership to make this world safer so that one day I can bring children here and won鈥檛 have to fear for their safety.鈥�
Outside the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul, where a youth protest was held Tuesday, 18-year-old Joseph Tawah agreed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard not to feel afraid,鈥� he said.
Meanwhile, governors and mayors, Republicans and Democrats alike, rejected Trump鈥檚 threat to send in the military, with some saying troops would be unnecessary and others questioning whether the government has such authority and warning that such a step would be dangerous.
鈥淒enver is not Little Rock in 1957, and Donald Trump is not President Eisenhower. This is a time for healing, for bringing people together, and the best way to protect civil rights is to move away from escalating violence,鈥� Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, both Democrats, said in a statement, referring to Eisenhower鈥檚 use of troops to enforce school desegregation in the South.
A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the president is not rushing to send in the military and that his goal was to pressure governors to deploy more National Guard members.
Such use of the military would mark a stunning federal intervention rarely seen in modern American history.
Minnesota, meanwhile, opened an investigation into whether the Minneapolis Police Department has a pattern of discrimination against minorities. Floyd died May 25 after a white Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed black man鈥檚 neck for several minutes.
Chauvin has been charged with murder. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said prosecutors are working as fast as they can to determine if the three other officers at the scene should be charged too. All four have been fired.
Amid the protests, cities struggled to keep police in line and avoid instances of excessive force.
The police chief in Louisville, Kentucky, was fired after a restaurant owner was killed by police and National Guard members enforcing a curfew. In Richmond, the police chief said officers who used tear gas on a group of peaceful protesters would be disciplined. In Atlanta, six officers were charged after a video showed authorities dragging two young people from a car during protests.
___
Sullivan reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press journalists across the U.S. contributed to this report.
Zeke Miller And Tim Sullivan, The Associated Press
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