Military against people protesting George Floyd's murder by a cop

A policeman points a rubber bullet gun towards a man standing at protest site with his daughter in Long Beach, California. Pic/Twitter/@richardgrant88

President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy the military if the states fail to take necessary actions to "dominate the streets" and "quell" the violent protests that have spread across the US over the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd.

Trump said he was dispatching "thousands and thousands" of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property. Thousands have been protesting against the killing of Floyd, 46, who was pinned to the ground in Minneapolis last week by a white police officer who kneeled on his neck as he gasped for breath.

"If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and proper of their residents, then I will deploy the US military and quickly solve the problem for them," he said.

Donald Trump holds a Bible while visiting St. John's Church across from the White House after cops used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse peaceful protesters in the area on Monday. Pic/AFP

Trump also said all Americans were "rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death" of Floyd, and asserted that justice will be served.

'I am outraged'
The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington criticised Trump for staging a visit to the St. John's Church across from the White House. The Rev. Mariann Budde, whose diocese St. John's belongs to, said she was "outraged" by Trump's visit and noted that he didn't pray while stopping by the church.

World outrage grows
World outrage at Floyd's death grew on Tuesday, with solidarity protests being organised at Sydney, Paris, Kenya and The Hague in the Netherlands.

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