The National Guard was on the streets of more than a dozen US states and Washington DC on Sunday morning, after protests following the death of George Floyd gave way to another night of violence across America.
Angry crowds have clashed with police in major cities across the US, with fierce battles in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, in the latest display of public anger over the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man, in police custody last week. Some 5,000 members of the National Guard have been called up in 15 states and the District of Columbia, with another 2,000 prepared to deploy “if needed”.
The Floyd case, which echoes the high-profile killings of other black Americans at the hands of white police officers, has revived long-simmering tensions over race relations. It comes in the lead-up to a presidential election and in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 100,000 Americans and disproportionately affected people of colour.