The unrest ravaged several blocks in the Longfellow neighborhood, with scattered rioting reaching for miles across the city. It was the second consecutive night of violent protests following the death of George Floyd, who gasped for breath during a Monday arrest in which an officer kneeled on his neck for almost eight minutes. In footage recorded by a bystander, Floyd can be heard pleading that he can’t breathe until he slowly stops talking and moving.
Another protest was announced for Thursday evening near county offices downtown. Some stores in Minneapolis and the suburbs planned to close early, fearing more strife. The city shut down its light-rail system and planned to stop all bus service "out of concern for the safety of riders and employees," a statement said.
St. Paul front man Steve Linders said authorities have been dealing with unrest in roughly 20 different areas throughout the city.
Protests also spread to other US cities. In Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, hundreds of people protesting Floyd’s death blocked a Los Angeles freeway and shattered windows of California Highway Patrol cruisers. Memphis police blocked a main thoroughfare after a racially mixed group of protesters gathered outside a police precinct. The situation intensified later in the night, with police donning riot gear and protesters standing shoulder-to-shoulder in front of officers stationed behind a barricade.
The 46-year-old Floyd died as police arrested him outside a convenience store after a report of a counterfeit bill being passed. The US Attorney’s Office and the FBI in Minneapolis said Thursday they were conducting "a robust criminal investigation" into the death and making the case a priority. The announcement came a day after US President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...tweeted that he had asked an investigation to be expedited.
Aerial photos show devastation caused by looters protesting George Floyd's killing
[DailyMail] ...as Eric Garner's mom unites with Rev Sharpton in Minneapolis and demands cops who 'murdered' him are arrested now.
