US: Thousands of Protesters Defy DC Police Curfew Outside White House

By Staff, Agencies

Thousands of protesters on Tuesday converged outside the White House to protest one day after US police violently dispersed peaceful protesters in Washington, DC, using tear gas and rubber bullets.

The protesters started chanting minutes before the curfew was expected to take effect at 7 p.m. local time: "This is what democracy looks like" while holding up signs reading "Black Lives Matter" and "Defund the police."

Protesters converged in the very same spot that the National Guard, the US Park Police and the Secret Service aggressively dispersed people peacefully protesting the brutal police murder of unarmed African-American man George Floyd last week. Protesters were dispersed violently Monday night so that US President Donald Trump could take a photo in front of the historic St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC.

Black hawk helicopters were also seen whirring over DC on Tuesday night while the National Guard was also seen congregating in DC.

Despite hundreds of people sustaining injuries Monday night, Trump tweeted several minutes after curfew went into effect Tuesday that "Washington, D.C., was the safest place on earth last night!"

A fence separated the protesters from Secret Service officers, who were seen quickly tightening the metal rods holding the fence together.

Despite the fact that the curfew went into effect at 7 p.m local time, voting in the DC primary will continue for another hour until 8 p.m. EST. DC protesters who didn't want to break the curfew were encouraged to bang pots and pans out their windows in solidarity. One hour after the curfew, there were still thousands of people in the streets with many heading toward the Lincoln Memorial.