Minneapolis Riot: 2nd Night of Protests, Violence, Looting

For the second consecutive day, a wave of protests continued in the U.S. city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, which turned into looting and confrontations between demonstrators and security forces.

The beginning of the demonstrations came in the wake of the death of a black man during his arrest by excessive violence by two policemen, which led to anger and calls for justice. Later, the situation was turned into the looting and theft of the stores accompanied by a state of violence and vandalism.

In the meantime, the police chief of this northern city of the United States called on the demonstrators to maintain calm to avoid chaos that occurred on Wednesday.

[caption id="attachment_129176" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Protesters in Minneapolis[/caption]

Minneapolis protesters set fire to a auto parts store and looted a commercial store, as the two buildings are located near the police commission where the two policemen accused of killing an African American young man, George Floyd, worked before they were discharged on Tuesday.

Commenting on the matter, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he had asked the FBI and the Department of Justice to uncover the circumstances of this "sad and tragic" death. "My thoughts are with George's family and friends," he said, promising "Justice will be done.”

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On its part, the police fired tear gas and formed a human barrier to prevent the demonstrators from crossing the fence surrounding the security building.

"Give us time to get the job done appropriately, and we'll do the justice for you, I promise you," Municipal District Attorney Mike Freeman told reporters. 

Freeman admitted that the policeman's manner shown in the video was "appalling" and said, "My job is to prove that he violated a criminal law."

Minneapolis Not 1st of Its Kind

Moreover, the Judicial Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, which is dominated by Democrats, asked the Ministry of Justice to investigate misconduct it says is systematic by the police, after the death of a number of Americans of African descent.

Not only was George Floyd in Minneapolis, but there were also other victims, including Brianna Taylor, who was shot in her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, according to a letter signed by House Speaker Judge Gerold Nadler and other Democratic members, which was directed to Minister of Justice William Barr.

This letter carried questions about whether the police were involved in "a pattern or practice that violates the constitution", at the same time demanding that the ministry engage with local law enforcement authorities to investigate the death of Ahmed Arbari, another unarmed black man who was shot dead by a former police officer and his son, while running in his neighborhood in Georgia.

"Public confidence in the administration of blind justice has become a real test ground for the deaths of African Americans," Nadler wrote.

"Fires raged through the night in Minneapolis after a group of demonstrators swarmed a police station, which officers had been ordered to abandon as protests intensified in a city rocked by the death of a black man in police custody. Demonstrators breached a door and entered the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct station as fires spread, resulting in destruction and further upheaval, according to the Washington Post reporter on Friday.

The U.S. president was commenting on the riots in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as protests escalated after the death of black American citizen George Floyd, who appeared in a video struggling to catch his breath while a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck.

Trump warned, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted.