The United States is volatile in protests over the murder of black George Floyd. Curfews have already been clamped in at least 40 cities to prevent vandalism and arson by protesters. Protesters broke the curfew and took to the streets. In such a situation, US President Donald Trump ordered the use of force to suppress the protesters.
On Monday (June 1), US news agency CNN reported that Trump had given this instruction to the governors and mayors of various states. He also instructed the National Guard to be strict in suppressing protests.
Trump called the protesters "destroyers of government resources" and ordered their arrest. Trump also tweeted congratulations to the National Guard for its crackdown on protesters.
The US president said that if the mayors had cracked down hard from the beginning, there would not have been so many problems.
The protests erupted on May 25 when police in Minneapolis, Minnesota's largest city, killed a black man named George Floyd. Police went to arrest Floyd after receiving information that he had counterfeit notes in his car. A 10-minute video captured by an eyewitness showed him being strangled to death by a white policeman. The slain Floyd was unarmed. Unable to breathe, he was seen groaning.