On Tuesday, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam rejected a request from Defense Secretary Mark Esper to send 3,000 to 5,000 state guard members to Washington, DC, as part of a massive show of force organized by President Donald Trump's administration in response to the violent protests.
Esper said that Trump's statements about state governors in which the president said that most state governors were "weak" and in need of "control" on the streets, played a role in the decision.
"The president's statements to state governors reinforced our concerns about how to use the National Guard," he added, according to the governor's office.
The Virginia governor’s refusal to send National Guard personnel, while unrest continues to plague the American street, is one of the largest ethnic protests since the 1960s, as protesters took to the streets to condemn the police killing of black citizens.
In the same vein, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Tuesday that it was inappropriate for the military to be used to conduct police action in the streets of the United States.
"We do not believe that active military service on American streets should be used against the Americans ... It is inappropriate use of our army ... We have police in Washington, DC, we have federal police in Washington, DC, to focus on federal property," Bowser added, in a press statement.
While most of the demonstrations were peaceful, others descended into violence, leaving neighborhoods in chaos, looting shops and burning cars, despite curfews in various parts of the country, and deploying thousands of National Guard personnel in at least 15 states.
In a video conference, Trump told state governors that they "look like fools" to not deploy more National Guard members, and he said: "Most of you are weak ... you have to arrest people, you have to follow people, and you have to put them in jail for 10 years, then you will not see these things." Never again. "
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, rejected Trump's call to use force, and said he had informed Trump during the meeting: "Nobody is laughing here. We are in pain. We are crying."
In Minneapolis, Terrence Floyd, George's brother, sent an emotional appeal to the site where Floyd was installed on the platform by a white officer who placed his knee on George's handcuffed neck for several minutes.
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