Demonstrations in the U.S. tone down and go beyond borders

The protests against police brutality against African Americans have been repeated throughout Tuesday in the United States and have intensified in some capitals of the country, although they have been more peaceful than those of the weekend, according to the Efe news agency. Despite isolated incidents, the predominant scenes have been those of demonstrators singing with their hands up and remembering George Floyd, the victim of excessive policing that ended his life last week. Outrage at Floyd's death has spread beyond US borders and there have been further demonstrations in cities such as Amsterdam, Vancouver, Paris and Berlin against racism. 

These peaceful protests are in some cases linked to local events of racial discrimination or deaths in which the police are involved. France has been one of the places where the protest unleashed by the death of George Floyd has taken off the most. Some 19,000 people demonstrated in front of a courthouse in Paris on Tuesday, according to the local BFMTV channel, in memory of Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old black Frenchman who died in 2016 during a police operation. Amsterdam was also the scene on Monday of one of the biggest demonstrations in Europe in memory of Floyd and against racism. Some 10,000 people gathered on Dam Square in the city centre, according to the Efe news agency. In Berlin there was also a rally attended by some 2,000 people.

Across the Atlantic in Canada, thousands took to the streets over the weekend to demand answers to the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a 29-year-old black woman who fell from her apartment balcony in the presence of police. On Saturday there were rallies in Vancouver and other cities around the country, and on Sunday mobilizations took place in Montreal. 

In the U.S., the epicenter of the protest, several cities have decreed curfews to prevent a repeat of the shoplifting and violence that has taken place over the weekend. The protesters have relaxed their tone and the incidents in the last few hours have been less than over the weekend. Floyd's brother has called for continued mobilization, but has asked that violent acts be avoided. 

In some locations, police officers themselves have joined the rallies to show their respect for Floyd's death and to condemn the actions of Derek Chauvin, the officer who held his knee over Floyd's neck while handcuffed and lying on the ground. Dozens of people have thrown themselves on the pavement in Portland, Oregon, with their hands behind their backs, imitating Floyd's last moments after his arrest.

The demonstrators have rejected the statements made by Donald Trump, president of the United States, on Monday calling on the governors of the states to take an iron hand against the demonstrators and threatening to use the army against them, according to the Efe news agency. Trump has ordered to dissolve the protest in front of the White House to appear shortly after with a bible in hand on Tuesday.  "You have no shame, there is a racist in the White House," chanted the protesters next to the presidential residence in front of a two and a half meter fence now installed to prevent passage to the park in front of the building. 

The general public criticism of Trump is that the upcoming election is guiding all his actions without paying attention to the reasons for the demonstrations, which are police violence and racism. "It's time to heal the wounds and unity, and the best way to protect civil rights is to prevent the escalation of violence," Colorado Governor Jarred Polis and Denver Mayor Michael Hanckok, both Democrats, said in a statement released by Efe News Agency about Trump's threat to mobilize the Army. Also, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who participated in the protests in his city on Monday, responded to Trump on Tuesday saying, "if you are not going to be constructive, please shut up.

Up to 1,600 military personnel have been mobilized to Washington area barracks from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Drum, New York, to assist civilian authorities if required by the unrest, according to a statement collected by Efe Jonathan Rath Hoffman, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. The adoption of such an extraordinary measure as the mobilization of the Army for a public order issue has been seen by Democrats as an attempt to cement Trump's image as a "law and order" president, as he described himself on Monday.

"President Trump's decision to invoke the Insurrection Act (to mobilize the Army), and his inflammatory rhetoric, demonstrates that he cannot lead us through these tumultuous times and unite the country," Democratic Congressman Adam Smith, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. Also, Democratic candidate for the November elections, Joe Biden, has criticized the president for "using the American military against the American people. "He threw tear gas at peaceful protesters and shot rubber bullets at one to get a picture. For our children, for the soul of our country, we must defeat him," Biden wrote on his Twitter profile.

The new wave of protests against violence against African Americans, the largest mobilization in living memory since Martin Luther King, has come at a critical time in the VICD-19 pandemic. The United States is the country with the most cases and the most victims of the coronavirus, with up to 1.8 million infected and 106,000 deaths.

Also dismissing the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis, Trump announced Tuesday that he is seeking a new venue for the Republican National Convention in August, where he will be confirmed as a candidate, after North Carolina authorities expressed concern about the massive attendance expected at the event due to the pandemic.