Trump Urges Police to ‘Get Tough’ as Cities Calm: Protest Update

(Bloomberg) -- Large-scale protests continued across the U.S. Tuesday night as curfews were defied and demonstrators again clashed with law enforcement near the White House. Overall, it was a calmer evening than in recent days.

From New York to Los Angeles, demonstrators once again massed to speak out against the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. The incident has renewed concerns about police use of force that helped spark the Black Lives Matter movement.

The racial tensions laid bare by the nationwide protests also have revealed a problem for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the November election: He doesn’t excite younger black voters who want change -- and not just a sympathetic ear.

Key Developments:

• Pope Francis voices “great concern” over the disturbances in the U.S.
• Protesters clash with police in Paris
• A standoff between police and protesters on New York’s Manhattan Bridge is diffused largely without incident
• Unrest Spotlights Depth of Black Americans’ Economic Struggle
• What the Law Says About Deploying Troops on U.S. Soil: QuickTake

Trump Urges Police to ‘Get Tough’ as Cities Calm (7:09 a.m. NY)

President Donald Trump urged police to “get tough” and warned the National Guard “is ready” Wednesday morning, appearing to double down on his support for the use of greater force to quell protests, even amid reports of a relatively calmer night across the U.S.

Trump retweeted a post from Milwaukee police indicating protesters had thrown Molotov cocktails at its officers, urging law enforcement to take a firm line.

He also retweeted a post that appeared to show vandalism in midtown Manhattan, reiterating his readiness to deploy the National Guard.

The comments indicate a president committed to his law-and-order response to the unrest, even as he faces a dwindling set of options following a backlash over the government’s violent dispersal of peaceful protests outside the White House on Monday.

Pope Francis Says “We Cannot Tolerate Racism” (4:40 a.m.)

“I have witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest in your nation in these past days, following the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd,” Pope Francis told U.S. Catholics in his weekly greeting to the English-speaking community. “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life,” he added in comments posted by the Vatican on its website.

U.S. Embassy in Kenya Corrects Arrests Claim (3:18 a.m.)

The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, corrected claims it had made that the “officers involved” with Floyd’s death “have been arrested”. Just one has been.

Floyd’s death has sparked outrage across sub-Saharan Africa, with protests staged in Kenya and Nigeria, and political leaders voicing angry criticism. In response, several U.S. embassies and officials on the continent issued statements openly critical of the circumstances surrounding Floyd’s death.

The protests in Africa add to international pressure on American authorities to ensure there is justice for Floyd. The objections are all the more stinging given that many African nations have been at the receiving end of U.S. criticism for violating their own citizens’ rights.

Protesters Clash With Police in Paris (3:02 a.m.)

Demonstrators in Paris were ordered to disperse last night after sporadic outbreaks of violence, according to police in the French capital.

Around 20,000 people gathered in the north east of the city and police reported incidents of missiles being thrown, fires being lit and tear gas deployed, according to Agence France-Presse.

The protest was organized by campaigners seeking justice for a 24-year-old black man who died in police custody in France in 2016. The risk for President Emmanuel Macron is that global anger over George Floyd’s death ignites racial tensions in France, especially in the immigrant neighborhoods around Paris that have been among the worst hit by Covid-19.

Nearly 10,000 Arrested in Floyd-Related Protests (2.25 a.m. NY)

At least 9,300 people have been arrested in connection with protests across the U.S. in the days following the death of George Floyd, according to an Associated Press count.

Skirmish at Park Near the White House (1:27 a.m. NY)

Law enforcement deployed a pepper spray-style chemical and pepper bullets against protesters at Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., the Washington Post reported. Video showed a TV camera operator being sprayed at a fence erected at the edge of the park just north of the White House.

Reporters on the scene said some protesters threw water bottles and shook the fence separating them from the security officials, while others were yelling at them to stop. Some protesters set off a firework, the Post said.

A tall chain-link fence had been erected around the park Tuesday, expanding a protective zone around the White House itself. At the same spot one day earlier, federal law enforcement violently dispersed a crowd of peaceful protesters minutes before President Donald Trump walked across the park for a photo op in front of historic St. John’s Episcopal Church.

The crowds have since mostly dispersed.

Ferguson, Missouri, Elects First Black Mayor (12:46 a.m. NY)

The Missouri city at the epicenter of protests in 2014, sparked by the fatal shooting of a black teenager by a white police officer, elected its first-ever black mayor, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Ella Jones is a city councilwoman in Ferguson, which saw a fresh round of protests in recent days similar to those that followed the death of Michael Brown nearly six years earlier. Now mayor-elect, she will also be the first woman to lead the St. Louis-area suburb.

Crowds Exit NYC Bridge as Protest Standoff Eases (11:40 p.m. NY)

Police allowed demonstrators to get off the Manhattan Bridge on the Brooklyn side of the East River, as a standoff there diffused largely without incident.

Meanwhile, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio visited a protest site in Brooklyn, where he said his city was calmer than it had been a day ago, crediting the decision to impose a curfew.

President Donald Trump, however, said the police in New York weren’t being allowed to do their job and will need additional help. De Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo “MUST PUT DOWN RIOTING NOW,” he said.

National Guard Probes Chopper Use in D.C. (11:25 p.m. NY)

The D.C National Guard will open an investigation into the use of low-flying military helicopters against protesters in the nation’s capital.

The highest echelons of the National Guard had ordered for the helicopter maneuvers, the New York Times reported citing a military official familiar with Monday’s episode. The helicopters were directed with an intent that had been provided by the secretary of the Army and the Army’s chief of staff in an extensive meeting earlier, the official told the Times.

Demonstrators, Police in Standoff in New York City (11:12 p.m. NY)

Hundreds of demonstrators who had marched through Brooklyn and headed to the Manhattan Bridge were stopped by police who prohibited their entry into Manhattan Tuesday night.

Twitter users described a confrontation in which demonstrators challenged the police to let them pass, and the two sides remained at a standoff with police refusing to let them move into Manhattan.

New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, in responding to video of the bridge protests, said “this is dangerous,” and she’s “heading there now.”

Shooting, Looting Incidents in New York, Police Report (10:54 p.m. NY)

The New York City police’s public information office reports a looting incident in downtown Brooklyn at Flatbush Avenue and Pacific Street. The department also said there was a shooting in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in which an officer shot “someone with a firearm.” No condition was reported on the gunman; the officer is not injured, according to the public information office. Police later said the shooting incident was unrelated to demonstrations.

Pentagon Moves More Troops Into Washington Region (10:20 p.m.)

The Pentagon “moved multiple active duty Army units into the National Capitol Region as a prudent planning measure in response to ongoing support to civil authorities operations,” Defense Department spokesperson Jonathan Rath Hoffman said in statement.

Approximately 1,600 troops were moved into the Washington area from Fort Bragg and Fort Drumm over the last 24 hours. Active duty forces are “postured on military bases in the National Capitol Region but are not in Washington, D.C.”

Voting Continues in D.C. Despite Curfew (9:51 p.m.)

Washington D.C. is managing a conflict between its curfew, which started at 7 p.m., and voting locations that weren’t due to start closing until 8 p.m. In many of those, lines stretched for over an hour, meaning scores of people were waiting to vote as curfew hit.

Voters in line by 8 p.m. are exempt from the curfew, Mayor Muriel Bowser said, though in at least one precinct voters reported a police officer telling them they needed to go home. A city official said police were told Sunday that voters were an exception to the curfew and one officer appears to have misunderstood the rules.

Brooklyn Protesters Attempt to Cross Into Manhattan (8:46 p.m. NY)

As the sun set and the city-imposed curfew took effect, thousands of demonstrators headed from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center toward Manhattan. Police wearing helmets and wielding batons stood watch as protesters marched down Flatbush Ave, while workers continued to board up store windows.

Protesters chanted, “Black Lives Matter” as they walked. Dozens of police and parked squad cars blocked the entrance to both the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. Traffic snarled behind the crowd.

Allen Mintz, 35, an attorney, said the protesters were aware the rally could end in violence, as similar gatherings have in recent days. “Yes, this is dangerous, but you know what else is dangerous? Injustice.”

Chicago Mayor Announces Expedited Police Reforms (8:40 p.m. NY)

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday evening that she will expedite some planned reforms for the city’s police department like changes to training, officer wellness and recruitment over the next 90 days. The department is already under a consent decree.

Lightfoot, the city’s first black female mayor, called out the officers involved in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.

“I have watched all of the video coverage of George Floyd’s encounter with the four, shameful Minneapolis police officers who took his life,” she said. “I say all four, and not just the one who had his knee on his neck. All four were complicit. None followed their training, none intervened, and all felt entitled to abuse the privilege and honor of their badge to rob George Floyd of his humanity, his future and his life.”

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