President Trump is facing widespread
condemnation for his handling of the
unrest in dozens of American cities it
follows the killing of George Floyd an
african-american who died last week in
Minneapolis while being detained by
police his death has now been declared a
homicide
following an official post-mortem on the
streets of some cities there's been more
violence and looting prompting mr. Trump
to say that he will send in the military
presidents Democratic rival for the
White House Joe Biden accused mr. Trump
of using racist language and of failing
in his presidential duty to unite the
nation for the latest let's join our
correspondent Ally McBeal in Washington
hundreds of people outside the White
House again this evening right now with
our hands up with the hands up don't
shoot chant that they've been chanting
over recent nights but at the same time
over the last hour what we've been
seeing is huge convoys of military
personnel fanning out across this city
and Donald Trump has promised an even
tougher response on people on the
streets tonight
that's when he's already receiving heavy
criticism for coming down hard on legal
peaceful protesters undeterred there
outside the White House again but the
focus of their anger now is not just
violent police officers who kill unarmed
black men but the president as well it's
terrible that people can't protest which
by the way is the First Amendment right
president Trump likes to talk a lot
about the Second Amendment owning guns
and everything but won't even comment
when we come to do what we are literally
raised to do what to do as Americans
Donald Trump himself has appeared quite
pleased with the way he has in his words
dominated with overwhelming force
but those subjected to that force here
late yesterday were peaceful protesters
out in the memory of George Floyd as we
speak I am dispatching thousands and
thousands of heavily armed soldiers
military personnel and law enforcement
officers
and with that demonstrators were gassed
and shoved and pushed back from the
historic church outside which they'd
been protesting though it was well
before any curfew I feel like I'm not
even feeling one-eighth of what black
people feel every single day and I'm
terrified and what was it all for
particularly outside the church this the
president took a short walk to San
John's to show he's in control and
apparently to pose with a Bible Donald
Trump's Democratic presidential rival
has been critical of his handling of
this crisis the country is crying out
for leadership leadership the q9s
leadership that brings us together
leadership that can recognize pain and
deep grief of communities that have had
a knee on their neck for a long time but
the security forces continued to force
back demonstrators on the orders of a
president who's claimed to be a champion
of free speech but there's a sense that
this will go on we've been Martin Luther
King for ages for generations
generations on end it's time for month
to make San Marcos garden-like
no justice no peace like that's not just
a monster anymore
that's got to be a way of like although
the military and the police have fairly
successfully shut down a lot of zones
across the American capital there are
still large pockets of protest traveling
throughout the city determined to
continue to demonstrate the President
may have disrupted the protests in
Washington and with it dealt with some
of the looting and his critics feel his
actions compared to those of
authoritarianism the world the US would
previously have condemned
aleem aboard BBC news in Washington well
within the past hour the family of
George Floyd took part in a march in his
home city of Houston Texas and there
have been protests across the United
States including in Minneapolis that was
the city where mr. Floyd was killed our
correspondent Barbara pleasure is there
with the latest
after happened a number of protests here
today Hugh including one that involves
faith leaders who marched right up to
this memorial site the situation has
largely stabilized though but attention
is still very much focused on
accountability one of the officers was
charged and the Attorney General is
saying that prosecutors are working as
quickly as they can to see whether the
other three who were involved in the
arrest should be charged as well but the
unrest that began here is still rolling
across the country
Minneapolis is reclaiming the place that
sent the city into spasms of anger and
unrest smothering with flowers the spot
where George Floyd stopped breathing
pinned down by a police officers knee on
his neck it's become a pilgrimage site
for those demanding justice for George
at the state capital a sit-in echoing
the civil rights movement 60 years later
still demanding equal justice for
african-americans especially an end to
police brutality against black people
the Minnesota government has announced
it will investigate the conduct of the
state's largest Police Department
stretching back 10 years in Houston
Texas it seemed like the whole city had
turned out to march for mr. Floyd
members of his family joined them this
is where he grew up and where he'll be
buried packed streets in New York City
emptied out in recent months to contain
the corona virus pandemic now fool once
again with protesters the anger has
taken a destructive turn here as it has
elsewhere you know that's like telling
the slaves not to burn down masters
house but this looked like more than
protests about racial injustice in
Manhattan bands of young people dressed
mostly in black took advantage of the
unrest to pillage stores that had been
shuttered because of the coronavirus
police struggled to respond and the
mayor imposed a curfew a double
quarantine the vast majority of protests
are peaceful but it doesn't take much
for the mood to change
police have been responding with more
and more force and they have been
attacked in several cities last night
four were shot and injured in st. Louis
some coward fired shots at officers and
and now we have four in the hospital but
thankfully and thank God can we make
some sense out of this can we make some
sense out of this police are struggling
to make sense of their role to restore
law and order but also respond to the
tragedy of Minneapolis in that city
faith leaders made clear they were
siding with those calling for justice
people are demanding that all of the
officers involved in mr. Floyd's arrest
be charged accountability in this case
might be the beginning of an answer but
only the beginning Barbara Potter BBC
News Minneapolis
also today artists and record labels and
radio stations suspended business on
what's been called blackout Tuesday in
response to the killing of George Floyd
celebrities and social media users
across the world joined them in
solidarity to show their support for the
black community and the oscar-winning
film director Spike Lee has long been an
outspoken critic of police brutality and
racism suffered by America's black
community he said scenes witnessed in
the United States over the past week
were not new and had been going on in
various ways since the advent of slavery
in America four centuries ago Spike Lee
was speaking to will Gompertz ahead of
the release of his latest film black GI
served more than the white Americans
that sent you here and in the broad
sense is the Vietnam War through the
viewpoint of black Vietnam vets as
Oh see what happens all of us man
you are more than a filmmaker you're an
intellectual you're an activist and you
are very eloquent on the situation of
racism how do you bring about change we
had to talk about how the United States
of America was founded the foundation
the foundation of this country is
immoral the land was stolen from the
native people genocide was commit
against the native people and we
ancestor was stolen from africa brought
here to work so the foundation of a
symmetric genocide steal the land and
slavery and so any architecture budding
architect will tell you that if you
don't have a strong foundation the
building's gonna be shaking and then
it's shaky from day one the whole music
business has come out in solidarity for
George Floyd this seems to have
resonated beyond America yes and I think
that's I think that's a good point glad
you bring it up because the United
States America racism they do it better
anybody else but it's not just racism is
all over the world this is a global
pandemic before corona we be dying for
this country from the very kids I shall
resign the presidency what did you think
of president Trump's suggestion that he
put military on the streets of the
protests I was watching this last night
with my family and we will all scream in
a disbelief that this thing was staged
this show of force are gassing innocent
peaceful bystanders so you could clear
the street he's a gangster
you know this is he's trying to be you
know he's a dictator okay they killed
him they kill Radio Rocky's murder I did
it again just like Michael Stewart
murder you talking about the young
slightly young filmmaker this raised
angry does that apply to Spike Lee today
let's take a step behind that why are
people angry people anchors black people
being killed left and right
cops walk away free if they're angry for
a reason you angry because you live
every day in this world where this
system is not set up for you to win and
that was the director Spike Lee talking
to will Gompertz now with me in the
studio is our North America editor John
so Paul John let's take stock on where
we are and do you think we've now
reached the position where it's
impossible to separate what's going on
in the u.s. from the politics of this
year yeah you think it was grave enough
that politics wouldn't intrude but they
have light bulb moment for me yesterday
morning Donald Trump tweeting after the
night of terrible rioting across America
how could his poll numbers were this
evening in the last hour he's tweeted
about sleepy Joe Biden again saying he
thinks he knows the answers he doesn't
even know the questions and that of
course follows Joe Biden coming breaking
cover coming out from the basement where
he's been for the past three months and
taking off his face mask and launching a
scathing attack on Donald Trump for his
handling of the race riots that we're
seeing across America now Donald Trump
doesn't want to back down he wants to
say look I am the guy who is going to
bring law and order back to the streets
that is going to be his pitch I think
it's notable how few Republicans have
come out and backed what happened
yesterday when he went to that church
and held up a Bible leading to thousands
of peaceful demonstrators being tear
gassed in the process Republican senator
has been stopped and asked for their
reaction one prominent supporter of the
president said oh is that what happened
I didn't actually see it no one can say
in November there won't be a clear
choice but
Donald Trump mr. Laurin order mr. tough
guy and Joe Biden mr. unity mr. empathy
the only thing I think they have in
common is that both of them are in their
70s John
many thanks once again don't so call
that for us our North America editor