Chaos has continued to unfold in cities across America where over 50 Secret Service agents were injured in clashes with protesters in Washington DC, cops charged into demonstrators in New York City, and lootings and store raids continued to unfold in California, Philadelphia and Boston.
Tens of thousands of people gathered as the National Guard was deployed to over half the states in the country on Sunday for protests that have seen 4,100 people get arrested this weekend alone.
But even the threat of heavy officer presence didn’t deter protesters in Philadelphia from hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails at police, crowds to raid stores including Coach and Chanel in New York and San Francisco, and fires being ignited mere feet from the White House.
Late Sunday in Washington D.C. a fire was set ablaze in the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church and Lafayette Park in front of the White House.
This week hundreds of protests have unfolded in at least 145 cities across the country as people gather in outrage over the horrifying death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed while in the custody of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Memorial Day.
The demonstrations have marked unparalleled civil unrest in the US that hasn’t been seen since the 1968 assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Chaos continued to unfold in cities across America late Sunday night including Washington DC, just steps from the White House, where police and Secret Service deployed tear gas as they faced off with protesters during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd
Police and Secret Service pictured standing guard in front of the White House as protesters edge closer on Sunday
Demonstrators pictured flipping a car over and smashing its class windows during a protest near the White House on Sunday
The historic St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington DC was set ablaze in protests on Sunday. Police form a line in front of the church late Sunday
By Sunday night the church was engulfed in orange flames, but it’s not clear how the blaze started
Protesters set an American flag on fire at Lafayette Park in front of the White House as they rallied against police brutality on Sunday evening
Over 1,000 protesters gathered around a fire ignited near the White House on Sunday evening
At least 40 cities have imposed curfews in light of the riots and violence and National Guard members have been activated in 26 states and Washington, DC.
In total at least five people have been killed in protest violence after gunfire rang out in Detroit and Indianapolis and in Omaha a 22-year-old black protester was killed in a struggle with a local business owner.
Two Atlanta police officers were fired Sunday after video emerged showing them using excessive force during protests this weekend, including tasing and dragging two college students from a car.
St. John’s cathedral, which was opened in 1816, was set ablaze Sunday night in the nation’s capital, but it’s not clear how the fire started. The fire was put out shortly after 11pm.
A fire was also set in Lafayette Park, located just in front of the White House, where a protester set a US flag on fire sending smoke into the air as more than 1,000 gathered and raised their fists in solidarity.
The fire grew into a massive blaze in the middle of the park, where protesters gathered and raised their fists in solidarity
Police armed with plastic shields, bulletproof vests, and weapons pictured at Lafayette Park as demonstrators gathered for the sixth night on Sunday evening
Police officers charge forward during a protest outside the White House on Sunday
After 11pm, curfew in Washington DC, the White House shut off its exterior lights and went dark on Sunday nights as protesters still rioted outside
A man raises his fist in front of the White House as smoke envelopes the capital’s front lawn on Sunday
Fury erupted even as it neared curfew in Washington DC and as police fired tear gas and pepper spray amid blazes in the capital.
People were seen throwing branches and fireworks into the fires as police advanced forward in a line in a bid to push back the crowds to send people home as curfew is called for 11pm local time and will lift Monday morning at 6am, as designated by Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Before the blaze at the church broke out church officials said they were thankful that the church wasn’t hit by protests the day before.
‘We are fortunate that the damage to the buildings is limited,’ Rev. Rob Fischer, the rector of the church, said earlier on Sunday. He said that that same morning church officials had secured its valuables.
On Sunday protests decrying the police killing of black Minneapolis man George Floyd continued. Using a fire extinguisher and their bodies, a group of protesters in New York stopped looters from entering a closed business
Peaceful protesters pictured making a chain with their arms to block looters from entering this closed Tory Burch store on Sunday evening amid growing civil unrest
Protesters pictured taking a knee and raising their hands in the middle of Canal Street amid a stand off with police over the death of George Floyd at a rally Sunday evening
New York City police officers block Canal Street as protesters demonstrate. Thousands of National Guard troops patrolled major US cities after five consecutive nights of protests over racism and police brutality that boiled over into arson and looting
A man in a Spiderman costume raises his fist in solidarity with protesters with the Freedom Tower shining in the back during protests in Brooklyn Sunday evening
Stronger together: Activists pictured arm in arm as they march to the Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday
Horrifying video footage has emerged of New York Police Department officers clashing with protesters on Sunday night, chasing them and flinging them to the ground on the sixth night of demonstrations denouncing the police killing of black man George Floyd
In Manhattan a line of cops armed with plastic shields and batons were seen storming into a crowd of protesters on Sunday evening amid growing agitation.
A circle of eight cops was seen gathering around one protester, flinging him to the ground and arresting him. Nearby also in Manhattan a car was sent up in flames Sunday evening, leaving demonstrators scrambling.
In New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daughter Chiara de Blaio was arrested Saturday night alongside protesters in Greenwich Village for unlawful assembly and was later released, police said.
On Sunday stores across all boroughs were ransacked, including a Chanel in Soho and a Coach store in Midtown.
Around a dozen people were seen forcing entry into the Chanel located on Spring and Wooster after 11pm. One man was spotted leaving with four bags, as per the New York Post.
Looters in New York pictured leaving a broken into store in Manhattan after ransacking its merchandise Sunday
Looters pictured running out of a vandalized Coach store in Manhattan on Sunday
Designer destroyed: This New York Dolce and Gabbana store was completely raided and cleared of its shelves Sunday
Looters in New York pictured running away from a vandalized store on Sunday evening
Protesters pictured breaking their into a Gucci store in Soho, Manhattan Sunday evening
Two men fleeing the store were arrested down the block by cops who arrived two minutes after the break in.
In Los Angeles the county sheriff said people were out on the streets ‘acting like terrorists’ following a day that saw peaceful protests alongside widespread looting and store raids.
‘The peaceful [protesters]… tend to remain peaceful but what’s embedded within them are people that are right now, they’re just acting like terrorists, trying to instill fear, damage property and loot,’ Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said to press Sunday.
‘There’s no lawful protesters left anymore. Everybody who’s here is just trying to do damage,’ he added.
Boston: Protests continued to rage fury in Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday evening where a police car was set ablaze
Boston police pictured armed with batons and protective gear as a police cruiser burns behind them Sunday night
Looters pictured ransacking a jewelry store during demonstrations on Boston on Sunday evening
Cops pictured lined up protecting a Walgreens in Boston amid threats of riots and store raids
A protester pictured clashing with Boston and Massachusetts State Police on Sunday during demonstrations against the police killing of George Floyd
Protesters pictured assisting a man who was hit with pepper spray during clashes with police at Boston protests on Sunday
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the heart of protests in the country, law enforcement officials said they believe white supremacists have infiltrated demonstrates in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said Sunday night.
‘They’re agitators,’ he said to CNN, saying there have been reports of Antifa members attending demonstrations. Antifa is short for anti-fascists and are people whose political beliefs lean to the far left and are not in line with the Democratic Party.
Such complaints are sweeping the nation as a divide emerges among peaceful protesters, rioters, and looters.
On Sunday evening a man later identified as Bogdan Vechirko drove a tanker truck into a crowd of protesters on the Minnesota I-35W bridge on Sunday night and was later charged with assault.
No protesters were hurt but his actions were described as ‘inciting a crowd of peaceful demonstrators’.
In Philadelphia officials closed off much of the city after peaceful day protests turned into utter destruction by night fall.
Store windows saw their glass windows smashed near City Hall and their shelves raided with merchandise spilling out into the streets.
Philadelphia: Officials closed off much of the city after peaceful day protests turned into utter destruction by night fall on Sunday. People pictured running away from a GameStop during civil unrest
Looters pictured leaving a hardware store with lamps and merchandise in their hands after the store was raided in Sunday protests
Police pictured arresting a man who was caught looting a hardware store during George Floyd protests on Sunday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Utter destruction: Glamorous stores were left completely destroyed in the store raised with racks swept clean, unwanted clothes thrown on the ground, and shelves empty of merchandise
Barely anything left: Shelves at this hardware store were practically cleared out and unwanted boxes and goods left on the ground in disarray in Philadelphia on Sunday
George Floyd died on May 25 after he was arrested by four Minneapolis police officers for allegedly using a fake $20 bill. He was brought to the ground and white cop Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes, despite Floyd’s desperate repeated pleas for help saying, ‘I can’t breathe’.
The horrific assault was caught on video and sent shockwaves across the nation.
In total Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds; two minutes and 53 seconds of which occurred after Floyd became unresponsive.
After civil unrest and protests, Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and he along with the three other officers who arrested Floyd have been fired from the force following outrage over Floyd’s death.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officers patrol Sunday in Santa Monica, California after peaceful protests turned into mass lootings
Protesters pictured being detained by officers during a rally against the death of George Floyd late Sunday
Police pictured wearing protective gear as they arrest protesters at a rally in Minneapolis on Sunday
A view of the damaged lobby of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations headquarters in Washington pictured Sunday following protests
A man smashes the window of a restaurant amid nationwide unrest following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Washington state on Sunday
A man with a hammer attacks another man as a result of a disagreement about vandalism during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd in New York on Sunday
A line of police officers pictured at an intersection in Richmond, Virginia on Sunday evening
Police pictured facing off with protesters at a rally in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday
A woman protests in front of a line of Las Vegas Police officers on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday
Protesters pictured ransacking a 7-Eleven store in New York late Sunday