MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (WCCO) – For a full week, demonstrators have been demanding change and protesting George Floyd’s death at the hands of police, calling for an end to systematic racism in the United States.
But after tensions between protesters and police flared, President Trump threatened to deploy active-duty troops to stop the violence along America’s streets.
For seven straight nights, demonstrators marched to honor Floyd’s memory and to protest generations of racial injustice. While the vast majority of protests have been peaceful, agitators in many cities looted businesses and set fires.
In the midst of the chaos, police officers have been injured and more than 18,000 National Guard troops were activated.
President Trump warned if the violence doesn’t stop he will invoke more military might. “I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem,” he said.
As America’s streets seethe, President Trump attempted to focus on religion. He visited a national shrine Tuesday and a church near the White House on Monday, but not before peaceful protesters were cleared from his path with tear gas.
Episcopal Diocese of Washington Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde said “This was a charade that in some ways was meant to bolster a message that does nothing to calm, to calm the soul and to reassure the nation that we can recover from this moment.”
To help the healing, memorial services honoring George Floyd are planned in Houston, his home town, and Minneapolis, the site of his death.
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