Trump says the US will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization

US President Trump has announced that the United States will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization, according to a tweet he sent Sunday.

Antifa, short for anti-fascists, describes a broad group of people whose political beliefs lean toward the left — often the far left — but do not conform with the Democratic Party platform, reports the CNN.

Antifa positions can be hard to define, but many members support oppressed populations and protest the amassing of wealth by corporations and elites. Some employ radical or militant tactics to get their message across.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is deploying officers, agents and aviation assets nationwide at the request of federal, state and local partners “confronting the lawless actions of rioters,” the agency told the CNN in a statement. 

“CBP carries out its mission nationwide, not just at the border, consistent with federal laws and policies,” the agency added.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says state computers were attacked on Saturday. 

"Before our operation kicked off last night, a very sophisticated denial of service attack on all state computers was executed," Walz said this morning during a news briefing, reports the CNN.

"That's not somebody sitting in their basement," Walz said.

According to Walz, the cyberattack was sophisticated but it's not clear who was responsible at this time.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has extended the state's current curfew into Sunday evening.

Walz announced this morning that some of the "operational moves" will also continue Sunday, "like the closing of the major highways," Walz said. 

"We are not done yet," the governor said, reports. 

The curfew is for all public places from 8 pm to 6 am CT in Minneapolis and St Paul.

Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said a "large number" of the arrests made during protests Saturday night were for weapons violations.

Officers reported cars with no license plate or headlights driving through neighborhoods, Harrington said at a news briefing Sunday, reports the CNN.

When officers approached the cars, they found rocks and other weapons that were being driven to protest sites so "more damage and more assaults could take place," he said.

Harrington said some of those cars were stolen locally.

He said authorities took a "new operational approach" to responding to violet protests in Minneapolis and St. Paul by creating a coordinated group of public safety and law enforcement entities.

Fast-moving teams were sent to targets deemed of "high value" and of "high probability of attack," he said. Harrington said the public safety group worked with the community to identify where some of those targets could be.

According to Harrington, the goal was to get to these targets fast and "stop the violence" right away.

"We took action to make sure people's safety was protected," he said.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Sunday called for protesters against police brutality not to turn to violence as unrest flared in US cities overnight.

Biden issued a statement just after midnight as protesters in several major US cities vented outrage at the death of a black man shown on video gasping for breath as a white Minneapolis policeman knelt on his neck.

“Protesting such brutality is right and necessary,” Biden said in the emailed statement. “But burning down communities and needless destruction is not.”

He added: “We are a nation in pain, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democratic congresswoman who represents Minneapolis, said she thought the Minneapolis community felt safe last night knowing that their businesses and homes would not be burned in protests because of the National Guard presence.

However, she said there were many people who chose not to abide by the city's curfew last night and were “terrorized by the presence of tanks, by the presence of the National Guard and a militarized police.” 

"What we are trying to do is try to figure out something between extreme aggression and ways to figure out how to not get our city burned down,” Omar said in an interview on ABC, reports the CNN.

Omar criticized people setting businesses and buildings on fire in Minneapolis, and said those people are “not interested in protecting black lives,” because, by setting fires, “you risk the community that you’re standing up for.”

US protesters' anger and concern over the death of George Floyd has resonated in some countries in Europe.

Crowds gathered in central London's Trafalgar Square to protest against racism and police brutality, despite social distancing rules intended to limit the spread of coronavirus. People in England are not meant to meet with more than one person outside their household at a time until June 1, reports the CNN.

Some demonstrators also marched to the US Embassy in the Nine Elms area of the UK capital.

London's Metropolitan Police Service tweeted that it was aware of protesters gathering there.

"Officers are on scene and engaging with those in attendance. An appropriate policing plan is in place," the service said.

Demonstrators wearing face masks also rallied in Germany's capital, Berlin, carrying signs saying "Justice can't wait" and "Black lives matter."

Demonstrators in Denmark chanted "No justice, no peace" as they marched through the streets of Copenhagen.

Some people rallied outside the US embassy carrying placards demanding justice for Floyd and showing solidarity with US protesters.

Minnesota Govornor Tim Walz apologized to journalists everywhere after they were detained Saturday night. 

"I want to once again extend my deepest apologies, to the journalists who were once again in the middle of this situation were inadvertently, but nevertheless, detained, to them personally and in to the news organizations and to journalists everywhere," Walz said at a news briefing Sunday, reports the CNN.

"It is unacceptable. I said when it happened the other day when I failed you. I have to do better, I continue to need to do and send that message. I take full responsibility for that," said Walz.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has offered his “personal condolences to Mr. Floyd’s family and all the people too who have been impacted by this rioting and this violence."

In an interview on Fox this morning, Pompeo called the actions by the police officers in George Floyd’s killing “abhorrent” and said the administration had moved “very quickly” in responding –– pointing to comments from President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr, reports the CNN.

Pompeo said that the violence at the protests came from “antifa-like violent protests,” but noted, “it still remains to be seen exactly how what began as peaceful protests by people who were clearly saddened and frustrated by the police action against George Floyd” turned violent.

“I don’t know precisely how it proceeded to get this way, but we’ve seen this pattern before” of outsiders coming in," Pompeo said. 

New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said is "extremely proud" of the way officers carried themselves over the last few days as protests erupted around the city.

Shea's letter to officers comes while the NYPD has faced backlash for the way they have responded to protestors, reports the CNN.

"What you’ve endured these last couple of days and nights — like much of 2020, so far — was unprecedented. In no small way, I want you to know that I’m extremely proud of the way you’ve comported yourselves in the face of persistent danger, disrespect, and denigration," Shea wrote. "What we saw in New York City last night and the night before was not about peaceful protest of any kind. It was not about civil disobedience. It was not about demonstrating against police brutality.

Shea added: "What it was, quite frankly, was a mob bent solely on taking advantage of a moment in American history, to co-opt the cause of equality that we all must uphold, to intentionally inflict chaos, mayhem, and injury just for the sake of doing so."

At least 33 officers were injured during the protest – some of them seriously injured – the official said.

Nearly 48 police vehicles were damaged or destroyed during the protest.

The Trump administration will not invoke federal authority over the National Guard for now, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said on Sunday as protests continued in multiple US cities after the death of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis.

“We’re not going to federalize the Guard at this time,” O’Brien told reporters at the White House, saying law enforcement decisions should rest with governors and mayors.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker called for legislative change and said "we are all weaker" because of how long injustice has persisted in the US.

"We are all weaker because we've allowed so much injustice to last so long. Now is the time to take this energy and this anger and this focus and keep it until we actually change laws and systems of accountability that can raise standards in this country," Booker said, reports the CNN.

Booker said it is important to get everyone involved and "begin to make history."

"We come from a nation that seems to take these spasms of protests and discord to get people who are comfortable on the sidelines witnessing history. To get them on to the field and begin to make history. To make us to be who we say we are, a nation for liberty and justice for all," Booker said.

St Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said instead of using the military to try to calm protests in his city and other parts of Minnesota, the community needs "some level of assurance" to help "ease some of this rage."

"The thing I think would help us more than military support is some assurance across our country that we possess a legal and judicial system that has the capacity and capability to hold someone accountable when something this blatant, something this disgusting, something this well-documented happens in plain view for all of us see," Carter said.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley "have personally spoken with Gov. Tim Walz twice in the last 24-hours and expressed the department's readiness to provide support to local and state authorities as requested," Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said in a statement Saturday.

Melvin said racism isn't getting worse, it is now just being recorded more.

"This killing did not start ten years ago when we started seeing these videos. The only thing that changed is all of a sudden we have cameras everywhere," he said.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms rebuked President Trump over rhetoric she said is stoking racial tension in the US.

"He should just stop talking. This is like Charlottesville all over again. He speaks and he makes it worse. There are times when you should just be quiet. And I wish that he would just be quiet," Bottoms said on  Sunday morning, reports the CNN.

"Or if he can't be silent, if there is somebody of good sense and good conscience in the White House, put him in front of a teleprompter and pray he reads it and at least says the right things, because he is making it worse."

Trump used Saturday morning messages to declare himself safe inside the White House, lash out at a Democratic mayor and raise the prospect of another demonstration with his supporters later in the day.

In a series of tweets, Trump commended the US Secret Service for protecting him inside his fortified mansion on Friday evening as protesters gathered outside over the death of George Floyd. The President suggested that dogs and weaponry were waiting inside the gates.

Calling the protests organized and a disservice to the cause of racial justice, Trump insinuated that his own supporters might stage their own rally in front of the White House on Saturday evening, a volatile suggestion at a fraught national moment.

Bottoms stepped into the national spotlight on Friday night, denouncing vandalism in her city as "chaos" after demonstrations over the death of Floyd, who was pinned down by a Minneapolis police officer now charged with his murder, turned violent and destructive.

"This country has faced the ugliness of racism for over 400 years. But what I know is that as a people and as a country, we can do better, we will do better, and, you know, I'm reminded of the words of Audrey Lord, 'Revolution is not a one-time event.' And so I appreciated what Melvin just said. We're asking for peace, not patience," Bottoms said, mentioning St. Paul, Minnesota Mayor Melvin Carter.

More than 340 people were arrested across New York City during protests that started Saturday and lasted into Sunday morning, a senior NYPD official said.

At least 33 officers were injured during the protest – some of them seriously injured, reports the CNN.

Nearly 48 police vehicles were damaged or destroyed during the protest.

US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien denied that systemic racism exists across the nation’s police forces, arguing instead that “a few bad apples” give the impression of racism among law enforcement officers.

“No, I don’t think there’s systemic racism,” O’Brien said on when asked whether he sees systemic racism as the problem, reported the CNN.

“There are some bad cops that are racist and there are cops that maybe don’t have the right training,” O’Brien said.

As the country wakes up to survey the aftermath of the fifth night of protests against racism and police brutality nationwide, O’Brien claimed the violence that has broken out in some cities “is being driven by Antifa” and said he had not seen reports that white supremacists had inflamed tensions in some instances.

He maintained that President Trump and the White House support peaceful demonstrations. 

O’Brien praised “99.9 percent” of law enforcement officers as heroes and first responders, but repeatedly said the image of police has been tarnished by “bad apples.”

Campaign staff for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden are advertising their donations to a group that pays bail fees in Minneapolis after the city’s police jailed people protesting the killing of a black man by a white police officer.

At least 13 Biden campaign staff members posted on Twitter on Friday and Saturday that they made donations to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which opposes the practice of cash bail, or making people pay to avoid pre-trial imprisonment. The group uses donations to pay bail fees in Minneapolis.

Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement to Reuters that the former vice president opposes the institution of cash bail as a “modern day debtors prison.”

But the campaign declined to answer questions on whether the donations were coordinated within the campaign, underscoring the politically thorny nature of the sometimes violent protests.

Curfews have been ordered in cities across the US to try to stem unrest sparked by the death of a black man in police custody.

But they have been defied in many areas, with shops looted, cars burned and buildings attacked, reports the BBC. 

Riot police have used tear gas and rubber bullets.

President Donald Trump urged "healing" over the death of George Floyd but said he could not allow mobs to dominate.

A white ex-policeman is charged with murdering Mr Floyd, 46, in Minneapolis.

Derek Chauvin, 44, is due to appear in court on Monday.

In video footage, Mr Chauvin can be seen kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck for several minutes on Monday.

Floyd repeatedly says that he is unable to breathe.

From Minneapolis to Washington DC, from Louisville to Las Vegas, reporters are facing assault and arrest while reporting on widespread protests and unrest.

At least a half dozen different incidents were reported on Friday, starting with the wrongful arrest of news crew in Minneapolis and ending with the arrest of two photographers in Las Vegas, reports the CNN.

Another disturbing episode took place on Saturday, when Ian Smith, a photojournalist for KDKA TV in Pittsburgh, said he was "attacked" by protesters downtown. "They stomped and kicked me," he wrote in a tweet from the back of an ambulance. "I'm bruised and bloody but alive. My camera was destroyed. Another group of protesters pulled me out and saved my life. Thank you!"

Reporters by and large said they wanted the attention to be focused on the communities they cover, not on their own safety concerns.

Still, the incidents provoked concern from a range of advocacy groups.

In Louisville, Kentucky, where protesters have been calling for accountability for a black woman who was fatally shot by police in March, an officer fired what appeared to be pepper balls at a reporter for WAVE 3 News, a local TV station.

The incident was broadcast live on the air. "Who are they aiming that at?" the anchor asked. "At us," the reporter, Kaitlin Rust, replied.

Atlanta Police arrested 70 individuals on Saturday night, according to John Chafee, a spokesman with the Atlanta Police Department.

A curfew was in place in the city from 9 pm Saturday, reports the CNN.

Earlier, the Atlanta Police Department said it had seen a significant decrease in the number of people on the streets as the curfew approached but a large number of protesters remained.

Police officers had rocks and other items thrown at them, an update on the force's Twitter feed said. Downtown properties also suffered damage from protesters.

At least 27 people were arrested in protests Saturday night in Seattle, Washington, according to Seattle Police Department chief Carmen Best.

Best said the alleged offenses varied from assault to arson, destruction and looting, reports the CNN.

"The priority is protecting life and ending the destruction. At this moment we know multiple officers and civilians have been injured," she said.

"The Seattle Police Department was prepared to facilitate the peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights. In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd we all are rightfully angry, sad, frustrated, and heartbroken," Best added. 

But, she said, what began as a peaceful protest became violent and destructive because of certain groups who wanted to take advantage of the situation.

Police were still addressing several groups of offenders who continued to assault officers and loot the downtown core, Best said.

The National Guard is also assisting.

Civil unrest flared and curfews were imposed in several major US cities on Saturday as demonstrators took to the streets to vent outrage at the death of a black man shown on video gasping for breath as a white Minneapolis policeman knelt on his neck.

From Los Angeles to Miami to Chicago, protests marked by chants of “I can’t breathe” - a rallying cry echoing the dying words of George Floyd - began peacefully before turning unruly as demonstrators blocked traffic, set fires and clashed with riot police, some firing tear gas and plastic bullets in an effort to restore order.

The sight of protesters flooding streets fueled a sense of crisis in the United States after weeks of lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen millions thrown out of work and has disproportionately affected minority communities.

In the nation’s capital, hundreds of demonstrators assembled near the Justice Department headquarters shouting, “black lives matter.” Many later moved to the White House, where they faced off with shield-carrying police, some mounted on horseback.

Target Corp has temporarily closed 175 stores across the United States amid protests.

"Our focus will remain on our team members’ safety and helping our community heal," the retailer said in a statement, reports CNN. 

A Target shopping cart is seen in front of a store logo in Azusa, California US November 16, 2017/ Reuters

In Minnesota, 71 stores are closed, 49 are closed in California, 12 are closed in New York, and the rest are closed in various other states.

Target team members impacted by store closures will be paid for up to 14 days of scheduled hours, including Covid-19 premium pay, the statement said.

Branches of the retailer had been affected by some protests in recent days.

There were dozens of arrests, but no serious injuries tonight as protests broke out in the Minneapolis area, said the Minnesota Dept of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell.

There were no "substantive" injuries to authorities involved in Saturday night's violent protests, nor to anyone that they may have engaged with, said Schnell at a press conference early Sunday morning in St Paul, reports CNN. 

There have been "dozens" of arrests since 10pm, according to Schnell, and they continue to happen. An exact number is expected later Sunday morning.

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti has extended a curfew, which initially applied only to downtown, to the whole city.

The curfew requires everyone within the City of Los Angeles to stay indoors tonight, from 8pm until 5:30am on Sunday morning, reported CNN.

On Thursday, Minnesota's governor activated the National Guard to help police restore order following two days of violent protests in Minneapolis city over the death of a black man seen in graphic video footage gasping for breath as a white officer knelt on his neck, Reuters reported. 

"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," Garcetti said in a statement.

"The vast majority of people taking to the streets are doing it peacefully, powerfully, and with reverence for the sacred cause they're fighting for. This curfew is in place to protect their safety — and the safety of all who live and work in our city."

At least 25 cities across 16 states have now imposed curfews.

Protesters rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Newark, New Jersey, US, May 30, 2020/ Reuters

CALIFORNIA

• Beverly Hills
• Los Angeles

COLORADO

• Denver

FLORIDA

• Miami

GEORGIA

• Atlanta

ILLINOIS

• Chicago

KENTUCKY

• Louisville

MINNESOTA

• Minneapolis
• St. Paul

NEW YORK

• Rochester

OHIO

• Cincinnati
• Cleveland
• Columbus
• Dayton
• Toledo

OREGON

• Eugene
• Portland

PENNSYLVANIA

• Philadelphia
• Pittsburgh

SOUTH CAROLINA

• Charleston
• Columbia

TENNESSEE

• Nashville

UTAH

• Salt Lake City

WASHINGTON

• Seattle

WISCONSIN

• Milwaukee

On Thursday, Governor Tim Walz ordered Guard troops to assist police as local, state and federal law enforcement officials sought to ease racial tensions sparked by Monday night's fatal arrest of George Floyd, 46, by vowing to achieve justice in the case.

Four city police officers involved in the incident, including the one shown pressing his knee into Floyd's neck as he lay on the ground, moaning, "please, I can't breathe," were fired from their jobs the next day.

The Floyd case was reminiscent of the 2014 killing of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man in New York City who died after being put in a banned police chokehold as he, too, was heard to mutter, "I can't breathe."

His dying words became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement that formed amid a wave of killings of African-Americans by police.

In an extraordinary move, the Pentagon on Saturday said it put military units on a four-hour recall status to be ready if requested by Minnesota’s governor amid civil unrest following the killing of a black man by a white Minneapolis police officer.

It was unclear when the US military last invoked such a short timeline to potentially recall US troops, something it might do for contingencies such as natural disasters, reports Reuters. 

“At this time there is no request by the Governor of Minnesota for Title 10 forces to support the Minnesota National Guard or state law enforcement,” the Pentagon said in a statement.