The US president offered his first policy proposals on policing and racial inequality since the killing of George Floyd. Trump said the US will not progress by "labeling tens of millions of Americans racists or bigots."
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
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US President Donald Trump on Monday unveiled his first policy proposals for police reform in response to anti-racism and police brutality protests that arose nationwide after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.
Speaking at a campaign-style event at a church in Dallas, Texas, Trump pledged more investment into police training and said he is finalizing an executive order to encourage police departments to "meet current professional standards for use of force."
"We must invest more energy and resources into police training, recruiting and community engagement," Trump said in a speech which repeatedly stated his support for police. "We have to respect our police. We have to take care of our police. They are protecting us. If they are allowed to do their job, they'll do a great job.
"We're working on a lot of different elements that have to do with law, order, safety, comfort, control. We want safety. We want compassion. We want everything," he added. "Every child should be able to grow up in a community free from violence and fear."
Trump also said his administration is pursuing economic development of minority communities and is working to address health care disparities.
Trump said Americans have to "work together to confront bigotry and prejudice wherever they appear," but the country will "make no progress and heal no wounds by falsely labeling tens of millions of decent Americans as racists or bigots."
"Unfortunately, there's some trying to stoke division and to push an extreme agenda — which we won't go for — that will produce only more poverty, more crime, more suffering," he said. "This includes radical efforts to defund, dismantle and disband the police."
"We're not defunding police," he added. "If anything, we'll go the other route. We'll make sure our police are well-trained, they have the best equipment."
Trump also defended his decision to send the National Guard to parts of the country, including Minneapolis, and his call for police to "dominate the streets."
"We're dominating streets with compassion if you really think about it," he said. "We're saving lives, we're saving businesses, we're saving families that are being wiped out after working hard."
In pictures: US protests over George Floyd, police killings rage in dozens of cities
US protests against the systemic mistreatment of blacks by police have sparked violent confrontations. President Donald Trump has said the military is "ready, willing and able'' to step in.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Cortez
'I can't breathe'
Tense protests over decades of police brutality against black people have quickly spread from Minneapolis to cities across the US. The protests began in the Midwestern city earlier this week, after a police officer handcuffed and pressed a knee on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, until he stopped breathing and died.
Image: picture-alliance/newscom/C. Sipkin
A 'gentle giant'
Floyd grew up in Houston, Texas, and moved to Minneapolis in 2014 for work. Before his death, he was looking for work after having been laid off from his job as a security guard at a Latin bistro due to Minnesota's stay-at-home coronavirus restrictions. Standing 6 feet, 6 inches (1.98 meters) tall, his friends described him as a "gentle giant."
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/O. Messinger
From peaceful to violent
Protests were mostly peaceful on Saturday, though some became violent as the night wore on. In Washington, D.C., the National Guard was deployed outside the White House. At least one person died in shootings in downtown Indianapolis; police said no officers were involved. Officers were injured in Philadelphia, while in New York two NYPD vehicles lurched into a crowd, knocking people to the ground.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMA/J. Mallin
Shops destroyed, looted
In Los Angeles, protesters faced off with officers with shouts of "Black Lives Matter!" as police confronted crowds with batons and rubber bullets. In some cities including LA, Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Minneapolis, protests have turned into riots, with people looting and destroying local shops and businesses.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Pizello
'When the looting starts…'
President Donald Trump has threatened to send in the military to quell the protests, saying his "administration will stop mob violence and will stop it cold." Trump's response has inflamed tensions across the country. He blamed the rioting on alleged far-left groups, but Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told reporters he had heard multiple unconfirmed reports of white supremacists stoking the violence.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMA/K. Birmingham
Media in the crosshairs
Many journalists covering the protests have found themselves targeted by law enforcement. On Friday, CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and his crew were arrested while covering the story in Minneapolis, and several reporters have been hit with projectiles or detained while on air. DW's Stefan Simons was fired at by police twice as he reported on the unrest over the weekend.
Image: Getty Images/S. Olson
Going global
North of the US border, in Canada, thousands of protesters took to the streets in Vancouver and Toronto. In Berlin, American expats and other demonstrators gathered outside the US Embassy. In London, protesters kneeled in Trafalgar Square before marching past the Houses of Parliament and stopping at the British capital's US Embassy.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Soeder
At Trump's front door
Protests raged in the US capital, Washington, after the district began its 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on Sunday. More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, with some lighting fires outside the president's residence. <i>The New York Times</i> reported that Secret Service had brought Trump into a bunker as a safety precaution.
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
Curfews in major US cities
Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Detroit, Washington D.C. and other US cities extended curfews as protests entered a sixth night on Sunday. The state of Arizona in the west instituted a statewide, weeklong curfew after demonstrators clashed with police. Around 5,000 troops from the National Guard also have been deployed in 15 US states.
Image: Reuters/P.T. Fallon
Trump threatens to bring in US military
In the face of renewed protests on Monday, Trump threatened to deploy the military if states failed to "defend their residents." As he made his remarks, security authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets to force protesters from nearby Lafayette Park. Trump then walked from his residence to a church in the park, where he held a Bible aloft during a photo opportunity.
Image: Reuters/T. Brenner
Peaceful demonstrations
Many protests in the US have remained peaceful, with groups of demonstrators standing together against police brutality. In Manhattan's Times Square on Monday, protesters lay on the ground with their hands behind their back, mimicking the position Floyd was in when he was killed. Though some people have resorted to violence, several US mayors and governors have praised the protests.
