In several large cities, they turned into riots again. In New York, where thousands were on the streets, Monday night there were looting and numerous arrests. Cars burned in Boston. Shops were also robbed in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. There were also riots in the capital, Washington. The protests are directed against police violence, brutality and injustice towards black people. The trigger was the death of 46-year-old Floyd during a police operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Monday last week. One of the four officers involved pressed his knee back for several minutes. He ignored all requests by the African American to let him breathe. Floyd’s probably last words “I can’t breathe” are now the protesters’ battle cry. US President Donald Trump temporarily sought protection from protests at government headquarters in an underground White House bunker on Friday. This was reported by several US media on Sunday evening (local time) from Trump’s environment. Demonstrators had gathered outside the White House on Friday night, some of them knocked over barricades, bottles and stones flew. After a little less than an hour, Trump was able to leave the bunker again, the television station CNN reported. The shelter is intended for exceptional hazardous situations, such as terrorist attacks. If the security forces in the White House see a greater threat, they bring the president there – which is rare. During the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, for example, then Vice President Dick Cheney and other senior government officials were brought to safety, and then President George W. Bush was in Florida. Trump spoke up on Saturday, the day after his short stay in the bunker, with a series of – sometimes martial – tweets. In it he praised the work of the Secret Service with a view to the protests the previous evening. “They were not only totally professional, but also very cool,” wrote Trump. “I was inside, watching every movement and couldn’t have felt safer.” Nobody was able to get anywhere near the White House fence. “If they had, they would have been greeted by the most vicious dogs and the most threatening weapons that I have ever seen,” Trump said afterwards. “Then at least people would have been really seriously injured.” The television station CNN reported that since then a total of around 4000 people have been arrested in protests across the country. At least 40 cities have curfews at night. About ten million people are affected. Several states have mobilized the national guard in the face of the protests. This belongs to the armed forces’ reserve and can be called for help in exceptional situations. In New York, up to 6,000 people took part in protests, particularly in the Brooklyn and Manhattan districts, according to local media, citing authorities. Some protesters have thrown glass bottles and trash on police officers, set cars on fire and set fire to trash cans. The Manhattan Bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan had to be temporarily closed. In Washington, demonstrators moved outside the White House again on Sunday evening (local time). There were clashes with the police. Demonstrators chanted “No peace without justice,” as a dpa reporter reported. There had already been protests in the past few days. In Minneapolis, a tanker drove into a crowd on a freeway with thousands of demonstrators on Sunday. The driver was arrested, the authorities said. The background was initially unclear. Apparently no one was injured. In the past few nights, protests in numerous American cities had led to violence – from New York on the east coast to Los Angeles on the west coast. Trump urged democratic mayors and governors to take action. On Twitter, he wrote: “Take a harder pace”.
