US braces for increasing unrest as protesters demand justice in George Floyd's death

The unrest over the death of black man George Flody spread across the US on Saturday (May 30) with the protesters coming out on streets setting police cars ablaze, looting shops and clashing with police officers from Atlanta to Los Angeles.

Authorities were preparing for more violence with some calling in the National Guard to maintain law and order.

In Minneapolis, the city where Floyd died after a police officer pressed a knee into his neck despite Floyd's plea that he was unable to breathe, Governor Tim Walz called in the National Guard and vowed to quell unrest as soon as possible.

“The situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd. It is about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great cities," Walz told the media.

Protests erupted in over two dozen cities, including New York, Oakland, California, Atlanta, Portland and Oregon and though protesters were largely peaceful some of them turned violent creating law and order situation. 

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is yet to do anything to assuage the anger of the protesters but he added fuel to the fire by posting a series of tweets mocking those who protested outside the White House and warning that if protesters breached the fence, “they would ... have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen.”

It is to be noted that the officer responsible for Floyd's death was arrested on Friday (May 29) but this has also failed to end the simmering anger.

In Georgia, the governor declared a state of emergency on Saturday and activated the state National Guard as violence erupted in several parts of Atlanta. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler also declared an emergency and said that curfew will remain in the city during nighttime till the situation improves.

In Portland, protesters entered inside police headquarters and ransacked the building. In Virginia, a police vehicle was set on fire outside Richmond police headquarters by the protesters.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp tweeted that up to 500 members of the Guard would deploy immediately “to protect people & property in Atlanta.”