Susan Rice on unrest and violence at the George Floyd protests: "This is right out of the Russian playbook as well."
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২৪ ঘণ্টায় করোনায় মারা গেছেন ২২ জন, নতুন ২ হাজার ৩৮১ শনাক্ত
দেশে গত ২৪ ঘণ্টায় ২ হাজার ৩৮১ জনের করোনা শনাক্ত হয়েছে। আর করোনা আক্রান্ত হয়ে মারা গেছেন আরও ২২ জন। এ নিয়ে করোনা শনাক্ত হয়ে দেশে মোট মৃত্যুর সংখ্যা ৬৭২ জন। দেশে মোট করোনা আক্রান্তের সংখ্যা ৪৯ হাজার ৫৩৪ জন। শনাক্ত বিবেচনায় মৃত্যুর হার ১.৩৬ শতাংশ।
দেশে গত ২৪ ঘণ্টায় নমুনা পরীক্ষা করা হয়েছে ১১ হাজার ৪৩৯টি। নমুনা সংগ্রহ করা হয়েছে ১৩ হাজার ১০৪টি। সর্বমোট নমুনা পরীক্ষা করা হয়েছে ৩ লাখ ২০ হাজার ৩৬৯টি।
আজ সোমবার দুপুরে করোনার সর্বশেষ অবস্থা নিয়ে স্বাস্থ্য অধিদফতরের নিয়মিত অনলাইন ব্রিফিংয়ে এসব তথ্য জানানো হয়।
এর আগে, গতকাল রোববার দেশে একদিনে রেকর্ড ২ হাজার ৫৪৫ জন করোনা রোগী শনাক্ত হয়। করোনা আক্রান্ত হয়ে মারা যান আরও ৪০ জন।
গত ২ ফেব্রুয়ারি থেকে দেশে করোনাভাইরাস শনাক্তের পরীক্ষা শুরু করে। ৮ মার্চ দেশে প্রথম রোগী শনাক্ত হয়।
সরকারি অফিসে ২৫ শতাংশের
আসতে পারবেন না’
বিভিন্ন মন্ত্রণালয় ও বিভাগের ২৫ শতাংশের বেশি সরকারি কর্মকর্তা অফিসে এসে কাজ করতে পারবেন না বলে জানিয়েছেন জনপ্রশাসন প্রতিমন্ত্রী ফরহাদ হোসেন। একটি বেসরকারি টেলিভিশনের সঙ্গে ভিডিওকলে যুক্ত হয়ে জনপ্রশাসন প্রতিমন্ত্রী এ কথা জানান। তিনি বলেন, প্রয়োজন হলে বাকিরা অনলাইনে অফিস করবেন।
তিনি বলেন, আমরা নিষেধাজ্ঞাসহ স্বল্প পরিসরের সরকারি অফিস খুলেছি। অনেক বেসরকারি, আধা-সরকারি স্বায়ত্তশাসিত প্রতিষ্ঠান বন্ধ ছিল। আমাদের ১৮টি মন্ত্রণালয় স্বল্প পরিসরে এতদিন চালু ছিল। রোববার (৩১ মে) প্রথম দিন আমরা সচিবালয়ে যে চিত্র দেখেছি অধিকাংশ মন্ত্রণালয়, যেভাবে আমরা বলেছি যে- বয়স্ক কর্মকর্তারা আসবেন না, অসুস্থ এবং সন্তানসম্ভবা নারী কর্মকর্তারা আসবেন না, সেটা আমরা মেইনটেন করেছি।’
তিনি বলেন, রোববার ছিল প্রথম দিন, অনেকগুলো মন্ত্রণালয় অত্যন্ত কম সংখ্যক কর্মকর্তা নিয়ে, যারা বিভিন্ন জায়গায় ঝুঁকিপূর্ণ স্থানে বসবাস করছেন, তাদের আমরা আসতে বারণ করেছি, তারা আসেননি।
তিনি জানান, দর্শনার্থী যাতে সচিবালয়ে প্রবেশ করতে না পারে এ জন্য এই ১৫ দিনে কোনো পাস ইস্যু করা হবে না।
ফরহাদ হোসেন আরো বলেন, ‘মন্ত্রণালয়গুলোকে জানিয়ে দেয়া হয়েছে, অত্যাবশ্যকীয় যে কাজগুলো আছে এখন আমরা সেই কাজগুলো করতে চাই। সেক্ষেত্রে চার ভাগের এক ভাগ (২৫ শতাংশ) বা পাঁচ ভাগের এক ভাগ (২০ শতাংশ) কর্মকর্তা উপস্থিত থাকবেন। যারা অসুস্থ আছেন, তারা ঘরে বসে কাজ করবেন, তারা অফিসে আসবেন না, এভাবে আমরা সাজিয়েছি। যাতে কেউ এখানে ইনফেক্টেড না হন। যারা একটু দূরে থাকেন, যারা ঝুঁকিপূর্ণ এলাকায় থাকেন, আমরা তাদের আমরা শনাক্ত করেছি।
প্রতিমন্ত্রী জানান, আমরা লক্ষ করেছি কিছু কিছু মন্ত্রণালয়ে কোনো কোনো কর্মকর্তার প্রয়োজন ছিল না তারপরও তারা এসেছে। তাদের কোনো কাজ ছিল না। তাদের কাছে বার্তা ঠিকমতো পৌঁছায়নি।
করোনোর সংক্রমণ এখন সর্বোচ্চ অবস্থায় আছে জানিয়ে ফরহাদে হোসেন বলেন, স্বাস্থ্যবিধি মেনে আমাদের কাজগুলো করতে হবে। প্রথম দিন আমাদের অবজারভেশনে কিছু ত্রুটি পেয়েছি।
তিনি বলেন, এই ১৫ দিনে আমরা ট্রায়াল অ্যান্ড এরর বেসিসে কাজ করব। আজ যে ভুলগুলো হয়েছে কাল যাতে সেই ভুলগুলো না হয় সেটাই আমরা করতে চাই।
বিভিন্ন শর্তপালন ও নির্দেশনা মানা সাপেক্ষে রোববার (৩১ মে) থেকে ১৫ জুন পর্যন্ত অফিস খুলে দিয়েছে সরকার। মার্চ মাসের শুরুতে দেশে করোনাভাইরাসে আক্রান্ত রোগী পাওয়ার পর পরিস্থিতির ক্রমাবনতিতে ২৬ মার্চ থেকে ৪ এপ্রিল পর্যন্ত ছুটি ঘোষণা করে সরকার। এরপর দফায় দফায় ছুটি বাড়তে থাকে। সর্বশেষ ঘোষণা অনুযায়ী টানা ৬৬ দিনের ছুটি গত শনিবার (৩০ মে) শেষ হয়।
The death of George Floyd, a black man who died on Memorial Day after he was pinned down by a white Minnesota police officer, has sparked outrage and protests in Minneapolis and across the United States.
The National Guard has been activated in Washington, D.C., and 17 states: Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Utah, North Dakota, California, Missouri, Virginia, Kansas, Illinois and Nevada.
In the wake of Floyd's death, murder and manslaughter charges have been filed against Derek Chauvin, the officer who prosecutors say held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin and the other three officers at the scene have been fired. The Department of Justice is investigating.
Former Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice bizarrely suggested in a televised interview Sunday that the Russians could be behind the violent nationwide demonstrations following the in-custody death of George Floyd, although she offered no evidence for the incendiary claim.
Rice's made the claim after top Democrats insisted for years that the White House had conspired with Russia, although Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence to support any conspiracy with Russia by any U.S. actor to influence the 2016 election. Her remarks also came amid efforts by Democrats to pin the blame on outside white supremacist agitators, even though data suggests the vast majority of arrested protesters in recent days are local.
"To designate Antifa a terrorist organization, fine, but let's also focus on the right-wing terrorist organizations," Rice told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, referring to President Trump's decision earlier in the day to brand the left-wing militant group as a terrorist organization. "The white supremacists that he's called, in the past, very fine people."
Rice's claim that Trump praised white supremacists has been debunked. Like Rice, Trump specifically made a distinction between peaceful political protesters and white supremacists, whom Trump said he condemned "totally." ("Very fine people" were protesting the censorship and removal of a Civil War statue, Trump said.)
Rice continued: "We have peaceful protesters focused on the very real pain and disparities that we're all wrestling with that have to be addressed, and then we have extremists who've come to try to hijack those protests and turn them into something very different. And they're probably also, I would bet based on my experience, I'm not reading the intelligence these days, but based on my experience this is right out of the Russian playbook as well."
More of Susan Rice speculating on CNN that Russia is fueling US protests: "I would not be surprised to learn that they have fomented some of these extremists on both sides using social media. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they are funding it in some way, shape, or form."
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"I would not be surprised to learn that they have fomented some of these extremists on both sides using social media," Rice said. "I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they are funding it in some way, shape, or form."
Even left-of-center commentators were bewildered by Rice's claim, which was not supported by any evidence. Although Mueller concluded that Russian-linked actors sought to use social media to influence the 2016 election, no evidence surfaced to show that their effort was successful in any measurable way. Earlier this year, the DOJ abruptly dropped Mueller's once-heralded prosecution of a Russian troll farm, just days before trial.
Journalist Aaron Mate tweeted, "Apparently Susan Rice just told CNN that Russians might be backing or financing this week's protests in the US."
"You cannot make this sh-- up," added Eoin Higgens, a journalist at the progressive outlet Common Dreams, in a post retweeted by Mate. "F---ing deranged."
Protesters demonstrate police brutality in front of Dallas City Hall in downtown Dallas, Saturday, May 30, 2020. Protests across the country have escalated over the death of George Floyd who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Scattered efforts by the Democrats to condemn some of the protesters have relied on inaccurate information and unfounded assertions that contradict available data and video evidence. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, for example, said Saturday that officials thought "white supremacists" and "out-of-state instigators" could be behind the protests in the wake of Floyd's death, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also claimed most of the protesters arrested were from outside Minneapolis and sought to take advantage of the chaos.
"We are now confronting white supremacists, members of organized crime, out of state instigators, and possibly even foreign actors to destroy and destabilize our city and our region," Frey had tweeted Saturday.
However, a report by KARE 11 showed "about 86 percent" of the 36 arrests listed their address in Minnesota, and that they live in Minneapolis or the metro area, according to data the outlet analyzed from the Hennepin County Jail's roster. Five out-of-state cases came from Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter later admitted he was wrong when he falsely claimed that "every person" arrested in Minneapolis protests was from out of state. Frey has not issued a similar retraction, and multiple calls by Fox News to his office seeking comment were met with a busy signal. An emailed message was not immediately returned.
In this May 29, 2020, photo, demonstrators face off against police officers in Oakland, Calif. while protesting the Monday death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man in police custody in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Frey, like many other Democratic local leaders, have struggled to square their push for coronavirus lockdowns with their encouragement for protesters. Frey had warned that in-person worship services would be a "public-health disaster," disregarding constituents' concerns that he was violating their First Amendment rights. Now, his administration has been distributing masks to rioters, even though public gatherings of 10 or more are still ostensibly banned.
"The city encourages everyone to exercise caution to stay safe while participating in demonstrations, including wearing masks and physical distancing as much as possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19," a news release read. "The city has made hundreds of masks available to protesters this week."
And, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo previously lashed out at protesters calling to reopen the state earlier this month, saying at a news conference, "you have no right to jeopardize my health ... and my children's health and your children's health." Cuomo's directives have been enforced throughout the state: A New York City tanning salon owner told Fox News he was fined $1,000 for reopening briefly last week, calling the situation "insane" and saying he already was "broke."
On Friday, though, Cuomo said he "stands" with those defying stay-at-home orders: "Nobody is sanctioning the arson, and the thuggery and the burglaries, but the protesters and the anger and the fear and the frustration? Yes. Yes, and the demand is for justice."
In April, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told the Jewish community that "the time for warnings has passed" after he said a funeral gathering had violated social distancing guidelines. On Sunday, the mayor asserted, "We have always honored non-violent protests."
The mayor of Washington D.C., Muriel Bowser, vowed $5,000 fines or 90 days in jail for anyone violating stay-at-home orders. This weekend, though, Bowser defended the protests: "We are grieving hundreds of years of institutional racism. ... People are tired, sad, angry and desperate for change." An angry mob of rioters in the city turned its rage on a Fox News crew early Saturday, chasing and pummeling the journalists outside the White House in a harrowing scene captured on video.
And, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti threatened in March to cut power and water for businesses that reopened, saying he wanted to punish "irresponsible and selfish" behavior. In recent days, he has encouraged mass gatherings, even as he condemned violence. "I will always protect Angelenos' right to make their voices heard — and we can lead the movement against racism without fear of violence or vandalism," he said.
Protesters stop and chant "I can't breathe" as they march northbound on 288 just south of Tuam Street during a demonstration related to the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died Memorial Day while in the custody of the Minneapolis police, in Houston, Friday, May 29, 2020. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP)
These officials were just some of the most prominent politicans to have adopted strikingly different rhetoric on mass gatherings over Floyd's death, including several protests that have triggered property damage, injuries, beatings, and several deaths. The mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, has been one of the few politicians to keep up her coronavirus admonitions. "If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a COVID test this week," she told CNN on Sunday. "There is still a pandemic in America that’s killing black and brown people at higher numbers."
"Democratic elected officials have now all-but destroyed any remaining political deference in terms of policies needed to enforce social distancing, limit crowd size and the like," journalist Michael Tracey said.
He also suggested the protests obfuscated key data, pointing to statistics from The Washington Post showing that a total of 41 unarmed people were shot and killed by U.S. police in 2019 -- 19 of them white, nine black and nine Hispanic. Others noted that the "Grim Reaper" who patrolled Florida's beaches to shame swimmers and sunbathers amid the pandemic was nowhere to be seen at the protests.
"WE LITERALLY STAYED IN OUR HOUSES FOR A MONTH BECAUSE OF FEAR OF A VIRUS WITH A 99.74% SURVIVAL RATE AND NOW ARE SUPPOSED TO IGNORE NATIONAL COP-KILLING RIOTS?!!" Kentucky State political science professor Wilfred Reilly tweeted. "SERIOUS question, as re these riots - where are all these Governors that gave daily three hour press conferences about whether you could walk down the beach or visit your dying relatives? Is the COVID-19 crisis over?"
Four officers have been fired in the Floyd case, and one has been arrested. A video showed the arrested officer kneeling on Floyd for several minutes as he screamed that he could not breathe, although an initial medical examiner's report found "no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation" -- and cited Floyd's "underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease," as well as the "potential intoxicants" in his system.
A senior official in the direct chain of command for defending Washington D.C. told Fox News that more than 50 Secret Service officers have been injured Sunday night so far, and that some rioters are throwing bottles and Molotov cocktails.
As observed in New York City and elsewhere, groups in D.C. are planting cars filled with incendiary materials for future use, Fox News is told.
U.S. Marshals and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents have been deployed to the streets of D.C. in an extraordinary move to beef up security alongside local police and Homeland Security agents, including the Secret Service, the Justice Department confirmed late Sunday. Fox News has learned U.S. Attorney for D.C. Mike Sherwin is heavily involved in the operation.
Lights that normally illuminate the exterior of the White House were disabled early Monday morning, reportedly so that the Secret Service could use night-vision equipment to monitor protesters.
Additionally, the entire Washington, D.C. National Guard is being called in to help with the response to protests outside the White House and elsewhere in the nation’s capital, according to two Defense Department officials. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said Sunday that she had requested 500 DC Guardsman to assist local law enforcement. Later on Sunday, as the protests escalated, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy ordered the rest of the Guardsman — roughly 1,200 soldiers — to report.
As authorities clashed with demonstrators for the third straight night, the parish house connected to the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church across the street from the White House was set on fire late Sunday. The parish house contains offices and parlors for gatherings. The basement, which was also torched, is used for childcare during church services, and had recently undergone renovations.
Police stand near a overturned vehicle and a fire as demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The church says every president beginning with James Madison, “until the present,” has attended a service at the church, giving it the nickname, “the church of presidents.” The first services at the church were held in 1816, according to its website.
Before the blaze, church officials had said they were thankful that the previous day of protests hadn't significantly damaged the structure.
"We are fortunate that the damage to the buildings is limited," Rev. Rob Fisher, the rector of the church, said in a statement earlier Sunday, several hours before the fire was set.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) building was also set ablaze near the White House. The AFL-CIO is the nation's largest pro-union group.
An hour before the 11 p.m. ET curfew in D.C., police fired a major barrage of tear gas stun grenades into the crowd of more than 1,000 people, largely clearing Lafayette Park across the street from the White House and scattering protesters into the street.
Demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Police stage in Lafayette Park as demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Protesters piled up road signs and plastic barriers and lit a raging fire in the middle of H Street. Some pulled an American flag from a nearby building and threw it into the blaze. Others added branches pulled from trees. A cinder block structure, on the north side of the park, that had bathrooms and a maintenance office, was engulfed in flames.
Several miles north, a separate protest broke out in Northwest D.C., near the Maryland border. The Metropolitan Police Department says there were break-ins at a Target and a shopping center that houses Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue Men’s Store, T.J. Maxx, a movie theater and specialty stores. Police say several individuals have been detained.
Police form a line on H Street as demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Separately on Sunday, Twitter suspended the account of Antifa, the left-wing group that Trump branded a terrorist organization earlier in the day. The suspension came after Antifa urged members to go into "white hoods" and "take what's ours." Twitter and President Trump have sparred in recent days over censorship.
The developments came as it emerged that the Secret Service took President Trump to the White House's underground bunker on Friday night, when protests outside the complex intensified.
A senior administration official confirmed the information to Fox News after The New York Times first reported the story.
Antifa is burning down the historic St. John's Church by the White House. It's completely up in flames.
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“Wasn’t long. But he went," the official said Sunday.
The White House declined to comment.
“The White House does not comment on security protocols and decisions,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said.
Trump's precise position Sunday night was not immediately clear. Trump traveled to Florida on Saturday to view the first manned space launch from the U.S. in nearly a decade. He returned to a White House under virtual siege, with protesters — some violent — gathered just a few hundred yards away through much of the night.
Demonstrators start a fire as they protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The D.C. demonstration Sunday was one of several around the country responding to the death of Floyd, a black man who died in police custody.
Four officers have been fired in the Floyd case, and one has been arrested and charged. A video showed the arrested officer kneeling on Floyd for several minutes as he screamed that he could not breathe, although an initial medical examiner's report found "no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation" -- and cited Floyd's "underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease," as well as the "potential intoxicants" in his system.
The scale of the coast-to-coast protests rivaled the historic demonstrations of the civil rights and Vietnam War eras.
In Birmingham, Alabama, footage appeared to show demonstrators violently attacking journalists on Sunday.
Footage from @aldotcom shows journalists being attacked in downtown Birmingham during a protest against the killing of #GeorgeFloyd
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Iowa Law School professor Andy Grewal tweeted: "Friend in Chicago called 911. Phone rang 10 times. He explained that the building across the street was being broken into and looted and the dispatcher then hung up on him."
In Minnesota, a semitrailer sped toward a crowd of protesters, in a scene caught on harrowing video. Police announced the unidentified driver was arrested and taken to Hennepin Healthcare with non-life threatening injuries after the protesters dragged him from his truck and apparently attacked him. Remarkably, DPS officials said it appeared none of the protesters was seriously injured.
BREAKING- Truck moves at full speed into a crowd of thousands of demonstrators #GeorgeFloyd #Minnesota @KSTP
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Protesters in Philadelphia hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at police, officials said, while masked crowds broke into upscale stores in a San Francisco suburb, fleeing with bags of merchandise.
In Austin, Texas, video showed protesters appearing to cheer as a homeless man's belongings were set on fire.
Rioters cheer as this homeless man’s belongings are set on fire in Austin.
This is heart wrenching.
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Looting was rampant in California, even in the well-to-do Bay Area suburb of Walnut Creek. In one bizarre episode caught on tape, looters there appeared to loot other looters.
WILD VIDEO: Here's video of #looters in Walnut Creek turning on each other and start fighting over the clothes they stole. Latest here: abc7ne.ws/2TV20wr
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Sam Bernardino, CA looting has hit BIG 5 Sports, Bank of America, an outlet mall and many many more. So sad. What an embarrassment for our nation.
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In Brooklyn, two attorneys, including a New York University School of Law graduate, were charged with throwing a Molotov cocktail at an NYPD cruiser. Colinford Mattis, 32, worked at the Times Square law firm Pryor Cashman, but his profile was removed from the firm's website after the news broke.
Inexplicable surge by police into crowd. I’m watching from 20 feet away.
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In Denver, police fired tear gas and projectiles at demonstrators defying a curfew following a day of peaceful marching and chants of “Don’t shoot” alongside boarded-up businesses that had been vandalized the night before.
Dozens of demonstrators, some throwing fireworks, taunted police and pushed dumpsters onto Colfax Avenue, a major artery, in the sporadic confrontations that occurred east of downtown. 83 had been arrested in the area on Saturday night.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock called the behavior of unruly protesters “reckless, inexcusable and unacceptable.”
Curfews were imposed in major cities around the U.S., including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. About 5,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen were activated in 15 states and Washington, D.C.
At least 4,100 people have been arrested over days of protests, according to a tally compiled by The Associated Press. Arrests ranged from looting and blocking highways to breaking curfew.
The scene on Sunday was similar to the episode outside the White House two days earlier. Around the time Trump headed to the safety Friday night, multiple agents were being "assaulted with bricks, rocks, bottles, fireworks and other items" -- injuring a number of uniformed division officers and special agents, according to the Secret Service.
Outside of the White House, protesters stand feet away from a police line chanting, “George Floyd. Say his name.”
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The extent of the injuries was unclear. No one reportedly made it over the White House fence, but the agency determined that the situation warranted immediate action.
Trump has said he had “watched every move” from inside the executive mansion during Friday's protest and “couldn't have felt more safe” as the Secret Service let the protesters carry on, “but whenever someone ... got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on then, hard — didn't know what hit them.”
On Saturday morning, Trump praised the Secret Service for its protection of the White House the previous night, calling them “very cool & very professional” -- and warned that any protesters who breached the fence would have met by "vicious dogs" and "ominous weapons."
Demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
"The President doesn’t make the call to move to the bunker," Dan Bongino, a former lead Secret Service agent in the presidential protective detail and a Fox News contributor, wrote on Sunday. "The trained professionals of the Secret Service do."
While unusual, it isn't unprecedented for protectees to be taken to the underground bunker when there are aerial intrusions or other threats to the White House. Top White House officials, including then-Vice President Dick Cheney, were whisked to the bunker after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The mob outside the White House had also turned its rage on a Fox News crew early Saturday, chasing and pummeling the journalists in a harrowing scene captured on video.
Police in riot gear stand in front of the White House as demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Veteran reporter Leland Vittert was covering protests in Lafayette Park just before1 a.m. with three crewmembers when as many as a dozen masked protesters surrounded them, in footage caught by the Daily Caller.
After a protester lunged at Vittert while he was reporting on-air, the team made a beeline out of the park, with the hostile and growing crowd in pursuit.
Vittert and the crew were punched and hit with projectiles as they fled, and a Fox News camera was broken when a member of the mob tried to grab it.
Police fired pepper spray at demonstrators near the White House and the D.C. National Guard was called in this weekend, as the scene outside the White House seemed fraught again on Sunday night.
The Secret Service tweeted late Sunday: "In an effort to ensure public safety, pedestrians and motorists are encouraged to avoid streets and parks near the White House complex."
Hundreds of people converged on the White House and marched along the National Mall, chanting “Black Lives Matter,” “I can't breathe” and “No justice, no peace.”
Protesters threw water bottles, traffic cones, scooters, even tear gas cans at police lines. They set fire to a car and a trash bin and smashed windows, including at Bay Atlantic University. “What are you doing? That's a school,” one man yelled.
An American flag hanging at the Export-Import Bank was taken down, burned and replaced with a Black Lives Matter banner.
Law enforcement officers from Calvert County Maryland Sheriff's Office standing on the Ellipse, area just south of the White House in Washington, as they watch demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump appeared to cheer on the tougher tactics being used by law enforcement to disperse protesters Saturday night. He commended National Guard troops deployed in Minneapolis, declaring “No games!” and he also said police in New York City “must be allowed to do their job!”
“Let New York’s Finest be New York’s Finest,” Trump said on Twitter after returning to the White House from Florida, where he watched the launch of a SpaceX rocket. He did not talk to reporters upon his return and it was not clear if he could hear the protest over the sound of his helicopter. But for at least part of the flight, televisions on Air Force One were turned to Fox News and its coverage of the protests.
Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService. They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe. They let the “protesters” scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone....
....got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard - didn’t know what hit them. The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic. Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would....
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Earlier in the day, he had belittled the protesters and pledged to “stop mob violence.”
“I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace, and I stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting this tragedy to loot, rob, attack and menace,” the president said after watching the launch of a SpaceX rocket. “Healing, not hatred, justice, not chaos, are the missions at hand.”
Police were in tactical gear. The D.C. National Guard was activated at the direction of the secretary of the Army and at the request of the Park Police to help maintain order near the White House, Commanding Gen. William J. Walker said in a post on the Guard's Facebook page.
A firework explodes by a police line as demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
While some protesters stayed near the White House, others marched through the streets chanting, “No justice and no peace.” and “Say his name: George Floyd.” The mood was angry and several speakers implored marchers to remain peaceful.
The march paused between the Washington Monument and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Demonstrators sat down in the street for a moment of silence lasting for the eight minutes or more that the Minneapolis police officer reportedly knelt on Floyd's neck.
Police in riot gear stand in front of the White House as demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, outside the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
At the Lincoln Memorial, one organizer spoke over a megaphone. “Look to the left and to the right and thank that person. We can't hug anybody because of COVID, but I love you anyway.” Many of the protesters wore masks, but did not socially distance themselves.
Another group circled through the Capitol Hill neighborhood for at least an hour in cars, honking. A helicopter hovered overhead.
In a series of tweets earlier Saturday, Trump doubted protesters' allegiance to Floyd’s memory, saying they were “professionally managed.”
Trump later rejected the suggestion that he was stoking a potential conflict between protesters and his supporters. “I was just asking. But I have no idea if they are going to be here," he said. “MAGA is Make America Great Again. By the way, they love African American people. They love black people.”
At Saturday's demonstration, there was no evidence of a counter-move by Trump supporters.
Demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The president also criticized the mayors of Washington and Minneapolis.
Trump said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey “is probably a very good person, but he’s a radical, left mayor.” He then described how he watched as a police station in the city was overrun. “For that police station to be abandoned and taken over, I’ve never seen anything so horrible and stupid in my life," Trump said when speaking briefly to reporters at the White House.
He said Minnesota officials have to get tougher with rioters, and that by doing so they would be honoring the memory of Floyd.
Demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The Secret Service said in a statement Saturday that six protesters were arrested in Washington and “multiple” officers were injured. There were no details on the charges or nature of the injuries. A spokesman for U.S. Park Police said their officers made no arrests, but several suffered minor injuries and one was taken to a hospital after being struck in the helmet by a projectile.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Saturday called the protesters “criminals” who committed “acts of violence while hiding behind their First Amendment right of lawful protest.”
Late Saturday and early Sunday, protesters vented their rage by breaking into tony shops of Georgetown, on the western edge of the District, and in downtown Washington, breaking windows and glass doors of many stores and looting some of them.
In his tweeting, Trump claimed that many Secret Service agents were “just waiting for action” and ready to unleash “the most vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons, I have ever seen." His reference to “vicious dogs” potentially being sicced on protesters revisits images from the civil rights movement when marchers faced snarling police dogs and high-pressure fire hoses.
Leland Vittert on Floyd protests: Crowd started to push forward, attacked us
Fox News’ Leland Vittert describes the hostile scene of the George Floyd protests on ‘CAVUTO Live.’
In a news conference Saturday afternoon, Muriel Bowser, mayor of the nation’s capital, called Trump’s remarks “gross” and said the reference to attack dogs conjures up with the worst memories of the nation’s fight against segregation.
“I call upon our city and our nation to exercise restraint, great restraint, even as the president tries to divide us,” she said. “I feel like these comments are an attack on humanity, an attack on black America, and they make my city less safe.”
In contrast with the president’s tweets, the Secret Service said it “respects the right to assemble and we ask that individuals do so peacefully for the safety of all.”
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