George Floyd protests: Trump claims Minneapolis was 'under siege' as officials implore president to remove military presence
Latest updates as demonstrations continued in wake of police killing
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has claimed the city of Minneapolis was “under siege” before the US National Guard was called in during a press conference on Friday in which he implored other cities facing major protests to call the federal government for assistance.
“They were ripping that place apart,” the president said about the city in which George Floyd was killed at the hands of a white police officer named Derek Chauvin, who has since been charged with second-degree murder. “It was under siege like nobody’s ever seen.”
Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser meanwhile called on Mr Trump to remove “all extraordinary federal law enforcement and military presence” from the city as protests have continued for ten days.
In lengthy White House remarks amid sweeping social unrest, a rising virus death toll and Depression-level unemployment, the Republican president suggested that even Floyd would be pleased with the latest economic news.
"Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that's happening for our country," Mr Trump said. "This is a great day for him. It's a great day for everybody."
Putting words in the dead man's mouth drew quick criticism, including from likely presidential foe Joe Biden, who said it was "despicable."
A few blocks away, city workers painted a huge "Black Lives Matter" sign on 16th Street leading to the White House.
On the economy, Mr Trump said an economic rebound was the answer to racial inequality, calling it "the greatest thing that can happen for race relations."
Mr Trump was quick to seize the positive jobs report at a time when his political standing is at one of the weakest points of his presidency less than five months before the general election. Just two in 10 voters believe the country is headed in the right direction, a Monmouth University poll found earlier in the week.
Few things matter more to Mr Trump's political future than the state of the US economy, which was all but shut down by state governments this spring to prevent greater spread of the deadly coronavirus. Defying health experts, the president has aggressively encouraged states to re-open and has assailed state leaders by name who resist.
At the same time, he's taken an uneven approach to explosive racial tensions in the wake of Floyd's death. As he has in recent days, Mr Trump on Friday offered a sympathetic message to Floyd in one breath and lashed out at protests in his name the next.
Local governments "have to dominate the streets," Mr Trump said. "You can't let what's happening happen."
The president spoke in the Rose Garden after the Labor Department said that US employers added 2.5 million workers to their payrolls last month. Economists had been expecting them instead to slash 8 million jobs in continuing fallout from the pandemic.
The jobless rate, at 13.3 percent, is still on par with what the nation witnessed during the Great Depression. And for the second straight month, the Labor Department acknowledged making errors in counting the unemployed during the virus outbreak, saying the real figure is worse than the numbers indicate.
Still, after weeks of dire predictions by economists that unemployment in May could hit 20 percent or more, the news was seen as evidence that the collapse may have bottomed out in April.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Check out The Independent's live coverage below:
Trump urges governors to 'dominate the streets' with military forces to end protests
John Bennett writes: Donald Trump used the hawkish language of his embattled defence secretary, Mark Esper, calling on governors to "dominate the streets" and put down protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody.
The president, while taking a victory lap in the Rose Garden at the White House, told governors that using National Guard forces would end the protests "so fast their heads will spin."
Trump names George Floyd while celebrating jobs report
The president said: "Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that's happening for our country. It's a great day for him, it's a great day for everybody. It's a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day."
Story to come...
Trump says he hopes George Floyd 'looking down' and seeing today’s jobs numbers as 'a great day for him'
Alex Woodward writes: Donald Trump says he hopes George Floyd, who was killed by police on Memorial Day after an officer forced his knee on the back of his neck for nearly nine minutes while facing the ground in handcuffs, is "looking down right now" and saying today is a "great thing that's happening for our country" as the nation's unemployment rate declined but remains higher than during the Great Recession.
The president said: "Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying, 'This is a great thing that's happening for our country. It's a great day for him, it's a great day for everybody. It's a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day."
Asked how the rate of unemployment among black Americans can be considered a "victory" as it continues to increase, the president told a report outside the White House, "You are really something."
Trump mentions George Floyd by name while praising himself over jobs report - footage
Cops arrest essential workers alongside protestors as calls grow to end NYC curfew
Calls have grown in recent days for New York City officials to end a curfew amid protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, as reports show police arresting essential workers alongside demonstrators.
The 8:00pm curfew has caused confusion and further disruption in the city, with vague guidelines making it unclear for many workers whether they were still considered essential — as some industries have been labelled throughout the coronavirus pandemic
In once incident captured on camera Thursday night, New York City police officers appeared to detain a food delivery worker shortly after 8:00pm.
The worker was filmed pleading with the cops as he was handcuffed near Central Park West and 109th Street, saying: “Are you serious? I’m working! I’m working!”
Several officers pull the delivery man away as several protestors shouted: “Let him go!
Story to come...
Trump clashes with black female reporter again who asks about unemployment rates
John Bennett writes: [Trump] ignored a question about George Floyd, a black man killed by white police officers in Minneapolis last week. And he grew agitated with Ms Alcindor when she asked how, despite lower overall unemployment, rising joblessness among African-Americans and Asian-Americans could be considered positives.
"Excuse me, I'd like to sign this bill," Mr Trump said before telling Ms Alcindor: "You are something."
She soon defended herself on Twitter, calling her's a "critical question."
Park Police admit they made a 'mistake' claiming no tear gas was used amid protests
Heavily secured White House at odds with its long history as ‘the people’s house’
Washington Post writes: The security perimeter around the White House keeps expanding. Tall black fencing is going up seemingly by the hour. Armed guards and sharpshooters and combat troops are omnipresent.
In the 72 hours since Monday’s melee at Lafayette Square, the White House has been transformed into a veritable fortress – the physical manifestation of Donald Trump’s vision of law-and-order “domination” over the millions of Americans who have taken to the streets to protest racial injustice.
The White House is now so heavily fortified that it resembles the monarchical palaces or authoritarian compounds of regimes in faraway lands – strikingly incongruous with the historic role of the executive mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, which since its cornerstone was laid in 1792 has been known as the People’s House and celebrated as an accessible symbol of American democracy.
This week’s security measures follow nighttime demonstrations just outside the campus gates last weekend that turned violent. White House officials stressed that Mr Trump was not involved in the decision to beef up security or to increase the fencing around the compound’s perimeter, with one senior administration official saying that the precautions are not unique to the Trump administration.
Nevertheless, the resulting picture is both jarring and distinctly political – a Rorschach test for one’s view of Mr Trump’s presidency. His supporters see a projection of absolute strength, a leader controlling the streets to protect his people. His critics see a wannabe dictator and a president hiding from his own citizenry.
Police arrest essential workers alongside protestors as calls grow to end curfew
Protests were meanwhile expected to continue through the weekend, as demonstrators held peaceful vigils and nightly marches honouring Mr Floyd, the 46-year-old unarmed black man who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for over eight minutes, according to charging documents.
That officer has since been charged with second-degree murder, while three additional officers seen in now-viral cellphone footage of the killing were also charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
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