Paula Lugones
05/31/2020 - 20:08
- Clarín.com
- World
The smell in that corner defies any chinstrap and cuts through the lungs like a burned rubber razor, ash and hot irons. We are on 27th Avenue and East Lake Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and what you see is a far cry from the neat landscapes that the United States usually offers: it is closer to a Gaza strip, or to Lebanon after a bombing. . A scene devastated by protests against racism and police brutality that erupted into violence.
In this city, well to the north of the country, it was where the flame was lit that ended up spreading throughout the country after the murder last Monday of George Floyd, an African American who was crushed by the knee of a white police officer for 9 minutes until died. Fury is still palpable here and protests continue through the streets of the city.
At dusk, thousands of people marched through the center peacefully this Sunday with signs demanding justice for Floyd and punishment for policeman Derek Chauvin and his three other colleagues. At first they were seen walking close to each other on various highways , challenging not only the police and the National Guard but also the coronavirus pandemic. But then some excesses began. A group of protesters climbed into a fuel truck, forcibly took out their driver, climbed onto the roof, and then started the runs with the police. The incident did not happen to major but it is presumed that it will be a complicated night.
The corner of devastation has become a symbol of resistance and the scene is like war. In front of a completely burned restaurant building, from which some flames are still looming, the pious placed a cardboard sign that warns "Danger of collapse" and just looking at the structure this possibility becomes very real. The Minneapolis Police Station is also seen totally soothed when protesters entered on Friday and burned everything. From the windows you can see remains that seem to have been desks and chairs.
There is enormous tension in the environment because last night the National Guard was deployed and arrived with a heavy hand. The marches that started peacefully ended in rubber bullets and tear gas and wounded journalists. At 19:57, all residents receive a message to their cell phones that says: “Extreme emergency alert: Minneapolis is under a strict curfew starting at 8pm. Go home or to safe closed places. Avoid the outdoors. ” About twenty minutes later, dozens of policemen arrived and began to try to clear the protest by charging against the protesters, but also against a group of about 30 journalists who were working at the site at a certain distance from those protesting.
“At night there was chaos in confrontations with the police. Police used projectiles, tear gas and rubber bullets not only at the protesters but also at the reporters who were working, covering the protest, "Miguel Otarola, a journalist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, told Clarín.
The National Guard is deployed at all entrances to the city and in places where protesters tend to gather. But not only in Minneapolis: Thousands of soldiers patrolled the main cities of the United States on Sunday, after five consecutive nights of protests that do not seem to be appeased. President Donald Trump, accused of stoking violence by his names on Twitter, where he described the protesters as "thugs," promised to end "collective violence" and blamed the "radical left" and the anti-fascist group for the excesses. Antifa.
The protests also took to the streets in New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Las Vegas, Seattle, Des Moines, Memphis, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Portland, Chicago, and even the capital Washington, where there were violent fire marches very close to the White House. Some 5,000 National Guard soldiers were deployed to 15 states, and another 2,000 in the District of Columbia are ready to intervene if necessary. Minneapolis, where it all started, is still on edge
