Sunday, May 31, 2020

TRUMP PROVOKES AN ANGRY NATION BUT MUST FLEE WHITE HOUSE BEFORE ANARCHIST HANG HIM FROM THE ROSE GARDEN




Trump tweets do little to calm a nation on edge, as more violent protests rock cities

David Knowles
Editor











Secret Service disperses protests at White House
As violent protests continued for a fifth straight night over the death of an African-American man during an arrest by Minneapolis police, President Trump took advantage of the crisis to take a swipe at “the Democrat Mayor” of Minneapolis for failing to control the protests, praising a “great job” by the Minnesota National Guard.
With more than 4,000 troops on the ground and a total of some 10,000 mobilized, the Guard helped enforce, albeit partially, an 8 p.m. curfew ordered by the governor and along with police dispersed a crowd that had attempted to storm a police station house. Two nights earlier, another precinct house had been burned down by demonstrators.
The National Guard “should have been used 2 days ago & there would not have been damage & Police Headquarters [sic] would not have been taken over & ruined,” Trump tweeted.
As police clashed with demonstrators in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities, Trump, after returning to the White House from Florida where he witnessed the launch of two astronauts aboard the SpaceX rocket, was uncharacteristically reticent on Twitter. He sent out several tweets during the day supporting the rights of “peaceful protestors” and condemning the death of George Floyd, who died after being pinned to the ground by four officers. One of the officers, who was videotaped kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, was charged with murder on Friday.
Trump has often treated law enforcement officers as part of his base and encouraged police officers not to be “so nice” to criminal suspects in their custody.
After a raucous protest Friday night outside the White House, Trump praised the Secret Service for keeping him safe and mocked the protesters.
“They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe. They let the ‘protesters’ scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least. Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. ‘We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and good practice.’”
An hour later, the president appeared to welcome a clash between what he called “so-called protesters” and those who supported his agenda.
The hashtag #MAGANIGHT quickly trended on Twitter, and, later in the day, the president was asked about his choice of words.
“I have no idea if they are going to be here. I was just asking, but I have no idea if they’re going to be here,” Trump replied.
Pressed by a reporter if he was encouraging a counterprotest, Trump said, “I don’t care.”
Later on Saturday, Trump said the National Guard had been “released in Minneapolis to do the job that the Democrat Mayor couldn’t do,” again seemed to green-light whatever police tactics were necessary to put down those in the streets protesting police brutality.
In contrast, Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden released a statement Saturday night that appealed to an end to the violence while acknowledging the reasons the protests had erupted across the nation.
“The last few days have laid bare that we are a nation furious at injustice. Every person of conscience can understand the rawness of the trauma people of color experience in this country, from the daily indignities to the extreme violence, like the horrific killing of George Floyd,” Biden said in his statement. “Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not.”
Trump, however, spent much of the the week describing the issues at hand with a different emphasis.
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” Trump wrote Thursday of the violent clashes at Minneapolis. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
The same phrase, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” had been used in 1967 by notorious Miami Police Chief Walter Headley and later repeated by segregationist presidential candidate George Wallace in 1968. Twitter flagged the president’s tweet for “glorifying violence.”
Trump, however, claimed in a Friday press conference that he didn’t know where those words had originated before he typed them. Still, the president saw fit to explain himself in a way that made clear that he believed those responsible for civil unrest deserved the consequences of their actions.
Like Trump, Attorney General William Barr has echoed language used by law enforcement officials during the civil rights movement, blaming “far left extremist groups” and “outsiders” for stirring up violence at protests.
“Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate violent agenda,” Barr said on Saturday. “In many places, it appears the violence is planned, organized and driven by anarchic and ... far left extremist groups using Antifa-like tactics.”
Trump’s critics, meanwhile, believe that Trump is at least partly to blame for stirring up racial discord. On Friday, former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton took issue with Trump’s tweets.
Clinton cited a video that Trump retweeted on Wednesday in which a man representing the group Cowboys for Trump quips that “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.”
The man went on to say, “I don’t say that in the physical sense, and I can already see the videos getting edited where it says ‘I oughta go murder Democrats,’ no. I say that in the political sense because the Democrat agenda and policy is anti-America.”

PERHAPS KAMALA HARRIS SHOULD TELL BLACK PARENTS THAT THEY ARE FAR, FAR, FAR MORE LIKELY TO BE MURDERED BY A BLACK THAN BY WHITEY! AND THEN ASK YOURSELVES WHAT BARACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN EVER DID FOR BLACK AMERICA AS THEY SABOTAGED HOMELAND SECURITY AND OUR JOBS FOR INVADING MEXICANS!


PERHAPS KAMALA HARRIS SHOULD SPEND SOME TIME HELPING BLACK AMERICANS INSTEAD OF HER ENDLES HISPANDERING!

Too often, Black parents have to sit their teenage children down and tell them they may be stopped, arrested, or even shot because of the color of their skin. Our nation’s history of systemic racism and use of excessive force must be confronted so we can begin to heal.

 

Video: Kamala Harris Attends George Floyd Protest Outside White House

Twitter/@KamalaHarris
30 May 20201,195
2:42
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) on Saturday attended a protest outside the White House as violent unrest rages across the United States over the death of George Floyd, the man who died after a Minneapolis police officer placed his knee on Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed.
A masked Harris shared a video of herself attending a protest alongside hundreds of other demonstrators chanting “Hands up. Don’t shoot.”


People are in pain. We must listen.

Harris, a contender to be former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate, shared the video with the caption: “People are in pain. We must listen.”
Harris communications director Sabrina Singh said the California Democrat joined the protesters to advocate for “people to be heard.”
Hours after attending the protest, Harris tweeted:
Too often, Black parents have to sit their teenage children down and tell them they may be stopped, arrested, or even shot because of the color of their skin. Our nation’s history of systemic racism and use of excessive force must be confronted so we can begin to heal.


Too often, Black parents have to sit their teenage children down and tell them they may be stopped, arrested, or even shot because of the color of their skin. Our nation’s history of systemic racism and use of excessive force must be confronted so we can begin to heal.

Protests erupted in dozens of cities across the United States overnight as activists called for justice for Floyd’s death.
Speaking during a news conference Saturday, Minneapolis Gov. Tim Walz blamed the violence on groups unrelated to the Floyd cause, including anarchists, white supremacists, and drug cartel participants. He said he plans to mobilize the National Guard to keep the peace for any further weekend protests.
“Our cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are under assault,” he said, blaming riots on “an organized attempt to destabilize society.”
Walz said he spoke with Floyd’s family, who said the violence that had overtaken the city was counterproductive to the message activists were trying to send about the 46-year-old’s death.
Floyd died Monday after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck during an arrest for nearly 9 minutes. There have been daily protests since the incident — which was recorded on video — calling for the officer and three others present during the arrest to face charges.
Chauvin was charged Friday with third-degree murder and bail was set at $500,000. All four officers, including Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, were fired from the MPD.
Protesters took to the streets across the country Friday night, many beginning as peaceful demonstrations that later took a more violent turn. Several buildings were torched while businesses were vandalized and looted.
The UPI contributed to this report. 


Night of rage on Pennsylvania Avenue as protesters clash with Secret Service in front of the White House

https://news.yahoo.com/night-of-rage-on-pennsylvania-avenue-as-protesters-clash-with-secret-service-in-front-of-the-white-house-190027102.html

White House Correspondent
,






Something Went Wrong
PP-400-602
WASHINGTON — The barricades in front of the White House were breached in the wee hours of Saturday morning as the wave of protests that has swept the nation following the death of George Floyd quite literally hit President Trump’s doorstep. 
The demonstrations led to dramatic clashes involving fists, shields and tear gas against the backdrop of Trump’s official residence. Hundreds of protesters marched through the nation’s capital and made their way to Pennsylvania Avenue early Saturday morning where they engaged in hours of violent clashes with Secret Service officers before being dispersed with pepper spray. 
Trump addressed the protests outside his home in a series of tweets on Saturday.
“Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService. They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe,” Trump wrote. 
Hundreds of protesters moved through Washington, D.C., on Friday evening as part of the nationwide backlash against the killing of George Floyd, who died after being taken into police custody in Minneapolis. Footage showed Floyd saying that he could not breathe as Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin allegedly held his knee on Floyd’s neck. 

Protesters face off with police outside the White House early on Saturday, during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)
Chauvin was subsequently fired and charged with third-degree murder, but the incident has sparked several nights of nationwide protests, which came on the heels of other videos of black men being killed by police and would-be vigilantes. 
Trump told Yahoo News earlier on Friday that he supported many of those who protested Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis.
“Certainly there were a lot of different people and there were good people too and they were protesting,” Trump said at the White House. “They were protesting for the right reason. They were protesting in honor of a man, George Floyd, where something happened that should not have happened.”
But Trump had also tweeted Friday that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” which was widely seen as a threat to protesters. Trump later appeared to walk back the tweet, saying it was a “fact, not a statement.”
Protesters removed multiple steel fences that stood across from Trump’s residence as the demonstrations crept late into the evening. In total, the demonstrators removed more than 15 barricades that they had piled up on the ground in a park across the street from the White House. 
The demonstrators squared off with uniformed Secret Service officers who kept them at bay with riot gear and shields. Around 2 a.m., hours after the protests in D.C. had begun, officers from the U.S. Park Police arrived to reinforce the Secret Service. The combined forces of officers who lined up in front of the White House were subjected to insults from the crowd.  
“I see you for what you are: a racist murderer,” one protester yelled at police. “You are scared of me. … You have to hide behind a badge.”  
The protester added he was at the demonstration because he was “tired of the police killing my people for no reason simply for being black.” 
Many of the insults were directed at the Secret Service officers of color. One man named Eddie said he was frustrated with the more diverse elements of the officer corps because “they’re standing there not saying anything.” 
“At the end of the day we’re all human. … No matter your color, at the end of the day we’re all human,” said Eddie, who declined to give his last name. 
Eddie, who wore a button-down shirt and a mask, said he believed Floyd had been murdered and that he was protesting to honor his memory.
“They killed him, so we ... speak for Mr. Floyd,” Eddie said.
Protesters hurled plastic bottles and bricks at the Secret Service. Agents, in turn, charged the protesters with plastic riot shields. Multiple protesters said they were concerned about both potential violence stemming from the confrontation with police as well as the possibility of being exposed to the coronavirus. 
“This seems exponentially more important than not getting sick,” a female protester said as she stood within the group crowded in front of the White House. 
Yahoo News asked an African-American Secret Service officer if he believed the situation could be deescalated. 
“Doubtful it could happen,” the officer, who was also talking to protesters, said. “You kill somebody — how you deescalate that? He ain’t coming back, right? At this point, what you going to do?” 
Some protesters said they appreciated the officer’s apparent concern for Floyd. 
“At least we’re talking now,” one of the demonstrators said.  
“I take this off, I’m still black,” said the officer, gesturing toward his uniform.

Protesters face off with police outside the White House early on Saturday. (Photo by Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)
As the protests continued, demonstrators and Secret Service officers battled in Lafayette Park, which sits across from the White House. Protesters managed to wangle multiple shields and barricades from the officers. 
Even after the reinforcements from the Park Police appeared on the scene, protesters managed to take down more barricades and seize multiple riot shields from officers.
The Secret Service on Saturday did not respond to questions about the protests, including some about which agencies were involved in responding. The Park Police also did not respond to questions. 
In his tweets about the protests, Trump suggested that Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser prevented her city’s police force from responding to the protests.
“On the bad side, the D.C. Mayor, @MurielBowser, who is always looking for money & help, wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved,” Trump wrote.
In response, D.C. police pointed to comments Bowser made in a press conference on Saturday afternoon. 
“I want to be very clear: My police department in Washington, D.C., will always protect D.C. and all who live and visit here. In fact, that is exactly what we did yesterday and last night. No one needed to ask the Metropolitan Police Department to get involved because we were already involved,” Bowser said. 
She added: “D.C. police supported [the] uniformed Secret Service last night like we have done literally dozens of times at Lafayette Park. [D.C. police], the U.S. Park Police and the Secret Service coordinated throughout the evening and night, and at no time was the chief of police concerned about losing control of protest activity in Washington, D.C.”
The Secret Service and Park Police swept into and dispersed the crowd using pepper spray at 3:22 a.m. on Saturday. Officers from both agencies also pushed credentialed press out of the park across from the White House.
“Get the f*** out of the park!” officers said. 

Trump tweets do little to calm a nation on edge, as more violent protests rock cities

David Knowles
Editor







Secret Service disperses protests at White House
As violent protests continued for a fifth straight night over the death of an African-American man during an arrest by Minneapolis police, President Trump took advantage of the crisis to take a swipe at “the Democrat Mayor” of Minneapolis for failing to control the protests, praising a “great job” by the Minnesota National Guard.
With more than 4,000 troops on the ground and a total of some 10,000 mobilized, the Guard helped enforce, albeit partially, an 8 p.m. curfew ordered by the governor and along with police dispersed a crowd that had attempted to storm a police station house. Two nights earlier, another precinct house had been burned down by demonstrators.
The National Guard “should have been used 2 days ago & there would not have been damage & Police Headquarters [sic] would not have been taken over & ruined,” Trump tweeted.
As police clashed with demonstrators in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities, Trump, after returning to the White House from Florida where he witnessed the launch of two astronauts aboard the SpaceX rocket, was uncharacteristically reticent on Twitter. He sent out several tweets during the day supporting the rights of “peaceful protestors” and condemning the death of George Floyd, who died after being pinned to the ground by four officers. One of the officers, who was videotaped kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, was charged with murder on Friday.
Trump has often treated law enforcement officers as part of his base and encouraged police officers not to be “so nice” to criminal suspects in their custody.
After a raucous protest Friday night outside the White House, Trump praised the Secret Service for keeping him safe and mocked the protesters.
“They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe. They let the ‘protesters’ scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least. Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. ‘We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and good practice.’”
An hour later, the president appeared to welcome a clash between what he called “so-called protesters” and those who supported his agenda.
The hashtag #MAGANIGHT quickly trended on Twitter, and, later in the day, the president was asked about his choice of words.
“I have no idea if they are going to be here. I was just asking, but I have no idea if they’re going to be here,” Trump replied.
Pressed by a reporter if he was encouraging a counterprotest, Trump said, “I don’t care.”
Later on Saturday, Trump said the National Guard had been “released in Minneapolis to do the job that the Democrat Mayor couldn’t do,” again seemed to green-light whatever police tactics were necessary to put down those in the streets protesting police brutality.
In contrast, Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden released a statement Saturday night that appealed to an end to the violence while acknowledging the reasons the protests had erupted across the nation.
“The last few days have laid bare that we are a nation furious at injustice. Every person of conscience can understand the rawness of the trauma people of color experience in this country, from the daily indignities to the extreme violence, like the horrific killing of George Floyd,” Biden said in his statement. “Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not.”
Trump, however, spent much of the the week describing the issues at hand with a different emphasis.
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” Trump wrote Thursday of the violent clashes at Minneapolis. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
The same phrase, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” had been used in 1967 by notorious Miami Police Chief Walter Headley and later repeated by segregationist presidential candidate George Wallace in 1968. Twitter flagged the president’s tweet for “glorifying violence.”
Trump, however, claimed in a Friday press conference that he didn’t know where those words had originated before he typed them. Still, the president saw fit to explain himself in a way that made clear that he believed those responsible for civil unrest deserved the consequences of their actions.
Like Trump, Attorney General William Barr has echoed language used by law enforcement officials during the civil rights movement, blaming “far left extremist groups” and “outsiders” for stirring up violence at protests.
“Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate violent agenda,” Barr said on Saturday. “In many places, it appears the violence is planned, organized and driven by anarchic and ... far left extremist groups using Antifa-like tactics.”
Trump’s critics, meanwhile, believe that Trump is at least partly to blame for stirring up racial discord. On Friday, former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton took issue with Trump’s tweets.
Clinton cited a video that Trump retweeted on Wednesday in which a man representing the group Cowboys for Trump quips that “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.”
The man went on to say, “I don’t say that in the physical sense, and I can already see the videos getting edited where it says ‘I oughta go murder Democrats,’ no. I say that in the political sense because the Democrat agenda and policy is anti-America.”
_____
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Read more:

‘We’re sick of it’: Anger over police killings shatters US

TIM SULLIVAN and STEPHEN GROVES







Protests turn violent across the nation
 and pushing for the arrest of three 
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Americans awoke Sunday to charred and glass-strewn streets in dozens of cities after another night of unrest fueled by rage over the mistreatment of African Americans at the hands of police, who responded to the violence with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Tens of thousands marched peacefully to protest the death of George Floyd, a black man who died Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on his neck until he stopped breathing. But many demonstrations sank into chaos as night fell: Cars and businesses were torched. The words “I can’t breathe” were spray-painted all over buildings. The damaged buildings include many near the White House.
The scale of the protests, extending to nearly every part of the country and unfolding on a single night, seemed to rival the historic demonstrations of the civil rights and Vietnam eras. And by Sunday morning, the outrage had spread to Europe, where thousands gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square. Despite government rules barring crowds because of the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrators clapped and waved placards as they offered support to U.S. demonstrators.
“We’re sick of it. The cops are out of control,” protester Olga Hall said in Washington, D.C. “They’re wild. There’s just been too many dead boys.”
People set fire to squad cars, threw bottles at officers and busted windows of storefronts. They carried away TVs and other items even as some protesters urged them to stop. In Indianapolis, multiple shootings were reported, including one that left a person dead amid the protests, adding to deaths in Detroit and Minneapolis in recent days.
In Minneapolis, the city where the protests began, police, state troopers and National Guard members moved in soon after an 8 p.m. curfew took effect to break up the demonstrations.
President Donald Trump appeared to cheer on the tougher tactics Saturday night, commending the National Guard deployment in Minneapolis, declaring “No games!” and saying police in New York City “must be allowed to do their job!”
Protests over George Floyd escalate near White House, around DC as Trump warns against 'mob violence'
Nicholas Wu, David Jackson, Maureen Groppe and Matthew Brown, USA TODAY



WASHINGTON – Protesters clashed with police outside the White House and throughout the nation's capital Saturday as the demonstrations grew more confrontational in their second day, with President Donald Trump threatening to shut down "mob violence" he said dishonored the memory of George Floyd. 
Even as they halted traffic on the Capital Beltway and shouted obscenities at the fleet of presidential helicopters that carried Trump back to the White House, the demonstrations scattered throughout the city remained mostly peaceful.
But there were also signs of increased tension as the protesters sought to call attention to the killing of Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody after a white officer pinned him to the ground under his knee. Some threw bottles at Secret Service agents and police near the White House. Officers responded by firing tear gas to break up the crowds. The D.C. National Guard joined other armored forces in Lafayette Square, near the White House, in trying to control protesters.
“Don’t run! Don’t run!” some yelled as police and protesters clashed outside the park Saturday night.
Showing at least five red welts on her bare left arm, Lindsay Kouyate, 21, said she was shot with something she couldn't identify. Kouyate said she was holding her "I Cant Breathe" sign near the police in front of Lafayette Square at the time. 
"I was just standing there with my sign. A bunch of other people were yelling and screaming,” she said. "He shot me so many times. I don’t know what it was."
Kouyate, who lives in Maryland, said she had been at the protests all day but wasn’t going home, even after her injury.
"You have to keep protesting," she said, "otherwise it won’t ever stop."
Nour Faladi, a 22-year-old programmer from Maryland, was among those caught in a round of tear gas. 
She was in a crowd when a gas canister hit the ground, she said, and it was “immediately harder to breathe." She said her eyes started running. She said a volunteer in the crowd washed her eyes out, and then she headed back into the crowd.
Police wearing helmets and holding shields formed a line between the protesters and the White House, a hot spot in the city throughout much of Saturday evening. 
At times, some protesters tried to knock over temporary barriers or approach officers, although none appeared to get near the tall fence at the White House. At least one vehicle was on fire a few blocks north of the White House, and firefighters also responded to an alley fire near the White House. A local TV station reported that stores in the city's tony Georgetown neighborhood had boarded windows. 
"Multiple" special agents and uniformed officers were injured when some protesters threw bricks, rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers, officials said.

Sherese Teixeira, 33, and Krystin Gambrell, 34, of Washington, D.C., pose in front of graffiti painted on the side of the White House Historical Association during protests for George Floyd. Texeira said said she felt empowered by protesting and seeing different races coming together.
Sherese Teixeira, 33, and Krystin Gambrell, 34, of Washington, D.C., pose in front of graffiti painted on the side of the White House Historical Association during protests for George Floyd. Texeira said said she felt empowered by protesting and seeing different races coming together.

Trump attended the historic SpaceX rocket launch in Florida earlier Saturday and returned to the White House on Marine One at around 8:30 p.m. As the presidential helicopters buzzed overhear near the White House grounds, some demonstrators shouted obscenities and shook their fists.
Trump used his address at the Kennedy Space Center to offer a stern warning to "rioters, looters and anarchists" against violence.    
"My administration will stop mob violence and we’ll stop it cold," Trump said, blaming  violence in several cities on "radical left-wing" groups. "I will not allow angry mobs to dominate...It is essential that we protect the crown jewel of democracy: The rule of law."
The unrest in Washington came as protests erupted in cities across the nation against police brutality and racial discrimination. At least two deaths have been linked to the demonstrations. Protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and clashed with police officers dressed in riot gear in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Portland, Oregon; and elsewhere. 
Outside the White House, officers wearing plastic body shields charged and pushed back a crowd of people who had removed metal barriers set up on Pennsylvania Avenue. A police helicopter circled overhead. The smell of marijuana also hung in the air.
"Trump is the reason why cops feel they can do certain things to black people,” said Cameron Jackson, 25, a supervisor at a grocery store, as he stood in the middle of 16th Street. “He condones it. He is a racist.”
But Jackson said he opposed violence.
"I'm peaceful," he said. "I'm away from the violence."
Dave Pringle, 32, who works on criminal justice policy in D.C., also condemned Trump.
"This man – this occupant of this building – represents the worst of humanity," Pringle said. "I think he is an avatar of the worst of humanity."
Six people were arrested near Lafayette Square on Friday and early Saturday, according to the Secret Service, which said it "respects the right to assemble, and we ask that individuals do so peacefully for the safety of all."
Secret Service agents and police carrying shields blocked off Lafayette Square north of the White House as drivers honked in support of the protesters and raised their fists in the air. Some demonstrators held up signs that read: "Stop Murdering Black People" and "White Silence is Violence."
"I came here to enforce the Black Lives Matter movement and to get justice for the injustices we have been receiving for over hundreds of years," said Ariel Weems, a 16-year-old high school student from Bowie, Maryland.
She called Trump part of the problem.
“I don’t agree with any of his policies," Weems said. "His Twitter comments? Shooting and looting? That was absurd. ... We’re out here protesting for our lives.”
In the heat of the afternoon, some moved through the crowds, passing out water bottles. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, others distributed masks. Most of the demonstrators wore masks but were closer than six feet from each other.
Strumming a guitar, Steve Canciani, 28, sang the Christian song “Break Every Chain” with Daniel Faludi, 22, near the White House. Their music mixed with the sound of sirens and the whirring of a circling helicopter.
"God always has a solution," Canciani said.

Demonstrators clash with police as they protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington.
Demonstrators clash with police as they protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington.

Jake Schindler, 26, was one of several people handing out water. Schindler said his Christian faith "called him" to justice. After running by the protest earlier in the afternoon and seeing others giving out water, he came back with a case of bottles to distribute.
James Bryant, a 30-year-old Washington resident, said he felt “like he needed to show up as a black man in America.” The protests, he said, were part of a “collective anger” that Americans can't ignore.
Asked if he was worried about tensions between the crowd and the cordon of police, he shrugged and said, “they’re just people.”
By early evening, some protesters marched to the National Museum of African American History and Culture near the Washington Monument. Along the route, someone painted a Wells Fargo bank branch with the words "capitalism is murder." Others painted references to the police and to Floyd on the ground.

Authorities look on as demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.
Authorities look on as demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.

Corey Gwynn, a 27-year-old speech pathologist from Virginia, told USA TODAY she had joined the protest because she was "upset about the lack of equality," especially as people had peacefully protested for so long "with no change."
Asked what she thought of the protests around the country, some of which turned violent, she said she "can’t blame her brothers and sisters, but that’s not the way I’m going about it."
"Merchandise can be replaced, but black lives can’t, she said.
Floyd, 46, died Monday evening, shortly after video footage showed him handcuffed, gasping for air and saying "I can't breathe," as a white officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. The video, taken by a bystander, circulated online and prompted widespread protests nationwide.
The Minneapolis Police Department fired four officers involved in the incident while state and federal authorities have launched investigations into the matter. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was seen kneeling on Floyd's neck, was arrested Friday and is facing third-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Subsequent charges are possible and charges for the other officers involved are anticipated, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said.
But those actions have done little to quell the anger many feel.  
Sherese Teixeira, 33, posed for a photo in front of graffiti sprayed on the side of a building near the White House that read: “Why do we keep having to tell you that black lives matter?”
"It’s been going on too long,” Teixeira said. "We're just tired of it."
Contributing: Kristine Phillips, Bart Jansen, Matthew Brown, John Fritze, Courtney Subramanian
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Floyd protests: tensions near White House, Trump gives warning

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