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National Guard Summoned to Aid US Cities Amid Police Clashes

Associated Press

   ATLANTA - Protesters burned businesses in Minneapolis. They smashed
   police cars and windows in Atlanta, broke into police headquarters in
   Portland, Oregon, and chanted curses at President Donald Trump outside
   the White House. Thousands also demonstrated peacefully, demanding
   justice for George Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer
   pressed a knee into his neck.

   As anger over Floyd's killing spread to cities nationwide, local
   leaders increasingly said they could need help from National Guardsmen
   or even military police to contain the unrest.

   Georgia's governor declared a state of emergency early Saturday to
   activate the state National Guard as violence flared in Atlanta.
   Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler also declared an emergency and ordered a
   nighttime curfew for the city.

   Another 500 Guard soldiers were mobilized in and around Minneapolis,
   where Floyd died and an officer faced charges Friday in his death. But
   after another night of watching fires burn and businesses ransacked,
   Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said early Saturday that he was moving to
   activate more than 1,000 more and was considering federal help.

   The Guard was also on standby in the District of Columbia, where a
   crowd grew outside the White House and chanted curses at President
   Donald Trump. Some protesters tried to push through barriers set up by
   the U.S. Secret Service along Pennsylvania Avenue, and threw bottles
   and other objects at officers wearing riot gear, who responded with
   pepper spray.

   "I just feel like he's just one of many names that we've had to create
   hashtags and T-shirts and campaigns for and I feel like nothing has
   changed," district resident Abe Neri said of Floyd. "And so that's why
   I'm out here. Yeah, when you say nothing you're taking the side of the
   oppressor."

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