US President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy the military to end what he called 'lawlessness' in American cities, as protests over the death of George Floyd continue. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Mr Trump said he would mobilise the US military if state governors did not restore order.
The president recommended that governors deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers to 'dominate' the streets. He warned that if they failed to take action, he would deploy the United States military to 'quickly solve the problem for them'. Mr Trump described himself as the 'president of law and order'.
Violent confrontations and protests continued across the US following the death of Mr Floyd, a black man, in Minneapolis after a white police officer held his knee on his neck for several minutes. An official post-mortem examination ruled his death a homicide. Many cities, including New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, enacted curfews, but demonstrators remained on the streets.
Mr Trump blamed anarchists and Antifa for fuelling the unrest. Under the Insurrection Act, a Civil War-era law, the president can authorise the use of active-duty or National Guard troops for law enforcement. Senior defence officials said between 600 and 800 National Guard members from five states were being sent to Washington.
