Widespread Protests In US Over Death In Police Custody

Protesters, outraged over the death of George Floyd, ibreached the complex of the Treasury Department here and spray painted the area, a law enforcement source informed CNN on Friday (local time).

Some of the protesters were briefly detained by the US Secret Service but were eventually released.

The agitators also threw some sort of firecracker at the police holding a barricade inside the CNN Center.

Live images on social media from the standoff inside the CNN Center showed several more police officers joining the barricade as protesters continued to throw objects from the Marietta Street entrance.

A video from CNN-affiliate WGCL showed protesters mounting at the CNN signage at the network’s headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and raising a Black Lives Matter flag.

The death of Floyd, 46, an African-American man, has sparked outrage across the country. Floyd was detained and subsequently died in police custody in Minneapolis on Monday.

A video recorded by a bystander showed a cop kneeling on Floyd’s neck for at least eight minutes, while Floyd was saying that he could not breathe. Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer allegedly involved in the death of Floyd has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

In New York City, hundreds of people protesting peacefully wearing face masks could be seen gathering outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, CNN reported.

In Kentucky, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer asked for protestors to be peaceful in his city, following Taylor’s death in March.

Protesters also arrived at Pennsylvania Avenue/Lafayette Park to show their anger against the incident.

The lockdown has been lifted at the White House and the United States Secret Service has reopened entrances and exits to the White House campus for both staff and media.

An attorney for Kellie Chauvin, the wife of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, has filed for a dissolution of marriage.

Meanwhile, several police officers in Houston and Detroit were also hospitalised after protests over Floyd’s death broke out in the city Friday, according to Houston Police Officer’s Union President Joe Gamaldi. “Our officers who were attacked are in the hospital, patrol cars ruined, businesses damaged,” he said in a tweet.

“This is not who we are as a city and as a community. We will protect your right protest, but we will not allow our city to decay into chaos,” he said further.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner urged citizens to go home in a tweet on Friday night after protests flared in downtown over George Floyd’s death.

“For the safety of everyone, I am asking you to go home,” Turner tweeted after issuing statement to close the city’s downtown area.

The protesters also took over portions of the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada on Friday night. Aerials from CNN affiliate KTNV show a crowd of people peacefully walking down the middle of the street. There was no vehicle traffic.

However, a bail for ex-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin has been set at USD500,000, according to the criminal complaint filed in the 4th Judicial District Court of Minnesota. According to the document, there have been no conditions set for his release.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray sent an email to employees on Friday night saying people’s trust in law enforcement is eroded when officers fail to protect and serve everybody.

“Like most of you, I’ve watched the video images this week that ended in the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers. These images are profoundly troubling, to say the very least. And it is difficult to see our communities across the country in such understandable pain,” Wray wrote. (ANI)