Protesters have clashed with police forces outside the White House, videos shared on social media show. Officers are apparently using tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Outside the White House, now: pic.twitter.com/iUh7i785Ye
— Allum Bokhari (@LibertarianBlue) May 30, 2020
On Saturday, temporary barriers were set up in such a way that the protesters ended up on the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, a block away from the White House, journalists from the White House press pool report.
Rioters could be seen screaming, vandalising and smashing windows of US Secret Service vehicles.
UPDATE: Rioters have spray painted and smashed out windows of multiple U.S. Secret Service vehicles outside of the White House.
— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) May 30, 2020
People were stomping on the vehicle's roofs and tossing objects at the police line.
This is at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street. pic.twitter.com/xLvIe499jy
Violent protests have shaken several US cities recently, with the most aggressive of them taking place in Minneapolis, Atlanta, and New York City, after the death of black Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Demonstrations started after footage showing officer Derek Chauvin pinning Floyd to the ground with his knee till he became unresponsive went viral, sparking statewide outrage, which has not calmed down despite Chauvin being charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death.
White House was placed under lockdown earlier on Friday, as thousands of citizens marched to the residence in uproar over Floyd's death. The lockdown was lifted several hours later after demonstrators headed for Capitol Hill.
"What we are now seeing on the streets of our cities has nothing to do with justice or peace", President Donald Trump said on Saturday at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Trump has blamed radical leftists for the ongoing unrest, warning that if the violence continues, the military could "very quickly" deploy troops to Minneapolis, where there have been non-stop protests for five days in a row, with rioters smashing police cars and municipal property, setting buildings on fire and stealing from local businesses.
