3 Jun 2020

Seventh night of protest in US

From Morning Report, 6:39 am on 3 June 2020

America has experienced its seventh night of protests after the death of African-American man George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer.

This despite President Donald Trump warning if cities and states fail to control the protests and, in his words, "defend their residents" he would deploy the army and "quickly solve the problem for them".

In New York looters tore off the plywood that boarded up Macy's flagship department store, dozens made it inside the store to steal whatever they could find before being chased down by the police.

Others smashed the windows at a Nike and other stores, scores of smaller storefronts in midtown Manhattan were destroyed.

The streets of the city were covered in broken glass and trash can fires.

The continued looting is a new crisis for mayor Bill de Blasio, he has even been criticised by President Trump and democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo

Tonight's curfew in New York has now been changed from 11pm to 8pm.

Other cities overnight: 

Two people were reported killed amid unrest in Chicago, although the circumstances are unclear.

The chief of police in Louisville, Kentucky has been sacked after law enforcement officers fired into a crowd on Sunday night, killing the owner of a nearby business.

In Las Vegas, a police officer was among two people shot following protests in the city.

Two more people were killed in the Chicago suburb of Cicero.

In Atlanta in Georgia arrest warrants have been issued for six Atlanta police officers after video footage of officers firing Tasers and dragging two college students out of a car on Saturday ignited outrage.

In Los Angeles, a video has emerged of police officers wrongly identifying black businesses owners as looters.