Over 1,000 additional National Guard troops are being activated Saturday.
May 30, 2020, 8:27 AM
6 min read
The death of George Floyd, a black man who was seen pinned down in a video by a white police officer and later died, has caused outrage in the city of Minneapolis and across the United States. What started as mostly peaceful protests at the beginning of the week has turned into chaos.
City leaders have pleaded with communities to voice their outrage in a lawful manner, but the widespread escalation of protests continued Friday night into Saturday.
Murder and manslaughter charges have been filed against Derek Chauvin, one of the four officers at the scene, who were all fired. The Department of Justice has said a full investigation of the incident is a “top priority.”
Prosecutors said Chauvin, who was the officer seen in video pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck, had his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Floyd was unresponsive for two minutes and 53 seconds of the encounter.
This story will be updated as protests continue throughout the country. Please check back for updates. All times Eastern.
4:26 a.m.: ‘Prudent’ to have Army units ready to deploy to Minnesota, governor says
As fires raged and protests escalated even further throughout Minneapolis Saturday morning, local and state officials said getting the chaos under control will take a response never before seen in the state because “there’s simply more of them than us.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said at least 1,000 additional Minnesota National Guard troops would be activated Saturday, and even then, that might not be enough. He said that is why the state is considering using active-duty Army units, which are reportedly being put on alert to deploy to Minneapolis, according to a late-night report from the Associated Press.
“You may have seen or heard that, this evening, the president directed the Pentagon to put units of United States Army on alert to possible operation in Minneapolis,” Maj. General John Jensen, Adjutant General of the Minnesota National Guard, said during a press conference Saturday. “While we were not consulted with, as it relates to that, I do believe it’s a prudent move to provide other options available for the governor, if the governor elects to use those resources.”
Walz said it’s more complicated than just saying yes and deploying them now because the move to have federal troops patrolling in Minneapolis would be something never before seen in the state.
“I spoke with President Trump the other night, I think it is prudent to have them ready for us to exhaust all resources that we need,” Walz said Saturday.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Walz angrily took to the podium Saturday morning to ask those setting fires, attacking officers and looting businesses to stop.
“We as a city can be so much better than this,” Frey said at the press conference Saturday. “There is no honor in burning down your city. There is no pride in looting local businesses that have become institutions of a neighborhood.”
He said people, especially during a pandemic, are counting on grocery stores being open to get groceries, pharmacies to get needed medicine and banks to get money.
“If you care about your community, you got to put this to an end; it needs to stop,” Frey said.
Walz said the tragedy of Floyd’s death has morphed into “an unprecedented threat to our state,” where those causing destruction have no regard to property or life.
Dozens of arrests were made on Friday, but an official total has not been released for the city. In one instance, shots were fired at law enforcement officers overnight.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
