- Curfew to go into effect for New York City from 11pm to 5am
- Floyd’s family calls for peaceful protests
- Pressure grows for other three officers to face charges
- Minneapolis police chief: all four officers ‘complicit’ in death
- Obama shares advice on how to make protests ‘a turning point’
- Angry Trump calls for tougher approach against protests
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Updated
22:46
Active military deploying to Washington DC as White House protests continue
21:47
Judge in Flynn case speaks up
21:34
Today so far
21:28
Louisville police chief reportedly fired
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Curfew for New York City
20:40
Private autopsy finds George Floyd died of asphyxiation
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Biden seeks advice from country’s mayors during roundtable
22:46
Active military deploying to Washington DC as White House protests continue
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A dispatch from the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief inside the west wing today:
Since protests broke out, the world is waiting for Donald Trump to give an address from the Oval Office or elsewhere at the White House. Instead he dispatched Kayleigh McEnany, his press secretary, to the west wing briefing room on Monday.
One reporter noted that the president was literally taken to an underground bunker for his own safety on Friday night. “Would you agree that he is hiding out on this issue and is that a good posture to be in?” he asked.
McEnany replied: “I would not agree with that at all. I was on the phone with the president at least half a dozen times yesterday and every time I talk to him, he was telling me about a different action he has taken whether it was talking to a governor about this or a foreign leader about ventilators. This president has been leading.”
Bridling at the idea that Trump has failed to speak out, the press secretary also insisted: “Make no mistake, this president has not been silent. At this moment he is acting to protect this country from the lawlessness we saw just out here in Lafayette Park last night.”
It is now customary for all reporters at the White House briefings to wear masks. McEnany and her colleagues did not.
Despite his long history of divisive rhetoric and championing of tough policing, the press secretary also noted Trump’s “long history of condemning white supremacy and racism”. Critics have compiled long lists that go in the opposite direction.
I asked if Trump regretted his weekend references to “When the looting starts, the shooting starts” and “vicious dogs”. McEnany claimed that he had been “taken wildly out of context” and denied that, as Twitter concluded, he was inciting violence.
Americans should not allow themselves to be divided, she went on. “The American spirit is defined by love and mutual acceptance and kindness. Despite the horrific scenes we’ve seen played throughout the media there are some things that we haven’t seen.”
McEnany proceeded to play a series of video clips of protesters and police working together.
She then departed. “I just want to leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that ‘We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools
21:47
Judge in Flynn case speaks up
21:45
21:34
Today so far
21:28
Louisville police chief reportedly fired
21:23
21:15
Curfew for New York City
The “city that never sleeps” is going to be under curfew, from 11pm tonight to 5am tomorrow, the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, and state governor, Andrew Cuomo, agreed today.
There will also be an increase in policing. In a radio interview, Cuomo said: “In New York City, I spoke with the mayor, there’s going to be a curfew in New York City that we think could be helpful … More importantly, there is going to be an increase in the force.
“There were about 4,000 officers on duty last night. There’ll be double that tonight, about 8,000,” Cuomo added.
The curfew initially is only tonight. Nothing has been decided about any subsequent restriction.
Cuomo has said he is prepared to call in the national guard.
The New York police department has been widely criticized for heavy-handedness amid angry but peaceful protests in downtown Brooklyn on Friday where people decried the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and police brutality and racial bias in killings of black people by police across the country.
Incidents elsewhere where police vehicles drove into protesters standing in front of them are being investigated. There were protests in numerous city neighborhoods at the weekend, some of which escalated out of control.
Updated
20:40
Private autopsy finds George Floyd died of asphyxiation
The family of George Floyd has had a private autopsy performed on his body, with pathologists concluding that the cause of death was asphyxiation from sustained pressure.
Pathologists who conducted the examination “found the manner of Mr Floyd’s death was homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain … and impeded his ability to breathe”, a statement released by the family and their attorneys said today.
Lead attorney for the family, Ben Crump, released the news ahead of a press briefing in Minneapolis, where Floyd died a week ago after a police officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes after he was detained on the street following a complaint from a store.
Pathologists Michael Baden and Allecia Wilson found that weight being applied to Floyd’s back, his hands being cuffed behind his back and the position of his body, where he was also at times being restrained by other officers as he lay on the ground, “were contributory factors because they impaired the ability of Mr. Floyd’s diaphragm to function”.
The official autopsy by the Hennepin county medical examiner, covering the jurisdiction where Floyd died, last week gave preliminary results that found cause of death to be the “combined effects of Mr Floyd’s being restrained by police, underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system”.
Video of Floyd’s treatment by the police went viral. Baden said: “What we found is consistent with what people saw. There is no other health issue that could cause or contribute to the death.”
The pathologists believe Floyd died at the scene. Crump said: “For George Floyd, the ambulance was his hearse.”
The family wants fired officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter last Friday, and the three officers who also detained Floyd but have yet to be arrested or charged, all to be charged with first-degree murder.
A public memorial is planned for Floyd in Minneapolis on Thursday. He was originally from Houston, Texas, and there are plans for that city to be his final resting place, with details to be confirmed.
Updated
20:27
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com