Protesters Take To White House For 2nd Straight Day

May 31, 2020 8:27 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — Police fired pepper spray at demonstrators near the White House and the D.C. National Guard was called in as pockets of violence and vandalism erupted during a second straight night of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and President Donald Trump’s response to it. 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. The D.C. demonstration was one of several around the country responding to the death of Floyd, a black man who died in police custody.