Georgia’s governor yesterday declared a state of emergency to activate the state’s National Guard as violence flared in Atlanta and cities nationwide following the death in Minnesota of George Floyd after a police officer pressed a knee into his neck while taking him into custody.
Another 500 National Guard soldiers were mobilized in and around Minneapolis, where Floyd died and an officer on Friday faced charges over his death.
However, after another night of watching fires burn and businesses ransacked, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that he was moving to activate more than 1,000 more and was considering federal help.
Photo: AP
The National Guard was also on standby in Washington, where a crowd outside the White House chanted curses at US President Donald Trump. Some protesters tried to push through barriers set up by the US Secret Service along Pennsylvania Avenue, and threw bottles and other objects at officers wearing riot gear, who responded with pepper spray.
A person was killed in downtown Detroit just before midnight after someone in an SUV fired shots into a crowd of protesters near the Greektown entertainment district, police said.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp wrote on Twitter that up to 500 members of the National Guard would deploy immediately “to protect people & property in Atlanta.”
Kemp said that he acted at the request of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who earlier appealed in vain for calm.
In scenes peaceful and violent across the US, thousands of protesters chanted: “No justice, no peace” and “Say his name. George Floyd.”
Some demonstrators smashed police cars and spray painted the logo sign at CNN headquarters in downtown Atlanta.
Atlanta officials said that crews were unable to reach a fire at the Del Frisco restaurant in the Buckhead neighborhood because of protesters there.
“This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr,” Bottoms said.“You are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country.”
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Singapore yesterday swore in Lawrence Wong (黃循財) as the city-state’s new prime minister in a ceremony broadcast live on television after Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) stepped down following two decades in office. Wong, formerly deputy prime minister, was inaugurated at the Istana government office shortly after 8pm to become the second person outside the Lee family to lead the nation. “I ... do solemnly swear that I will at all times faithfully discharge my duties as prime minister according to law, and to the best of my knowledge and ability, without fear or favor, affection or ill-will. So help me God,” the
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,
A group of 30 foreign academics yesterday released a statement condemning legislative reforms proposed by opposition lawmakers, saying they are unconstitutional and undermine the objective of good governance. The statement publicized at a news conference in Taipei is cosigned by international academics, journalists and politicians, including former American Institute in Taiwan directors William Stanton and Stephen Young, and Formosan Association for Public Relations president Bob Yang (楊英育). The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have put forward a set of legislative reforms that would introduce “contempt of legislature” charges, require the president to answer lawmakers’ questions and expand the