Major New Protests Break Out in US, Biden Slams Trump

Moments ago, major new protests have broken out in multiple cities in the United States over the brutal killing of George Floyd, African-American, after a police officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis city, Minnesota.

Demonstrators smashed windows and looted stores in New York, including luxury retailers on Fifth Avenue, and set fire to a Los Angeles strip mall. Four officers were shot in St. Louis and one in Las Vegas who was critically wounded, authorities said.

Earlier today, President Donald Trump said U.S. troops should take to the streets of New York City to quell unrest, as authorities across the country prepared for another night of protests over the death of an unarmed black man in police custody.

Dozens of cities are under curfews. The head of the U.S. National Guard said today that 18,000 Guard members were assisting local law enforcement in 29 states.

On his part, Joe Biden issued a blistering condemnation of President Donald Trump on Tuesday and pledged to offer a break from the "selfishness and fear" that he said have marked Trump's tenure in office and response to protests against racism and police brutality.

In a speech in Philadelphia, the presumptive Democratic 2020 presidential nominee addressed systemic racism and empathized with those who are protesting across the nation in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota in ways Trump has not.

"I won't traffic in fear and pision. I won't fan the flames of hate. I'll seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued our country, not use them for political gain. I'll do my job and I'll take responsibility -- I won't blame others," Biden said.

Building on his campaign's core theme that the "soul of the nation" is at stake, Biden made explicit his differences in approach from Trump, who on Monday urged governors to "dominate" protesters, and bragged on Twitter Tuesday morning that "overwhelming force" and "domination" had been on display in the nation's capital.

Biden also challenged Americans: "Look at where we are now and think anew: Is this who we are? Is this who we want to be?"

"Is this what we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren -- fear, anger, finger-pointing, rather than the pursuit of happiness? Incompetence and anxiety, self-absorption, selfishness? Or do we want to be the America we know we can be, the America we know in our hearts we could be and should be?" Biden said.

"The president held up the Bible at St. John's Church yesterday. I just wish he opened it every once in a while instead of just brandishing it," Biden said. "If he opened it, he could have learned something," he noted.

Biden called on Congress to make a "down payment" on what he said would be the "work of a generation" in excising systemic racism, including launching a national police oversight board if he is elected in November.

He said lawmakers should outlaw police choke holds, stop transferring "weapons of war" to police  departments and increase oversight and accountability of police departments.

Biden also directly addressed Floyd's killing, calling it "a wake-up call for our nation" as he began his speech.

"'I can't breathe. I can't breathe.' George Floyd's last words. But they didn't die with him. They're still being heard. They're echoing across this nation," Biden said.

"They speak to a nation where too often just the color of your skin puts your life at risk. They speak to a nation where more than 100,000 people have lost their lives to a virus and 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment -- with a disproportionate number of these deaths and job losses concentrated in the black and minority communities," Biden said. "And they speak to a nation where every day millions of people -- not at the moment of losing their life -- but in the course of living their life -- are saying to themselves, 'I can't breathe.'"