The largest mass protests in the United States over the murder of George Floyd on May 25 took place Saturday, while similar protests rocked capitals around the world such as London, Toronto, Paris, Berlin and Sydney, Australia.
In Canada, prime minister Justin Trudeau took to a knee for 8 minutes, 46 seconds at a Black Lives Matter (BLM) rally in Ottawa to symbolize his support for the George Floyd protests.
Smaller cities and communities across the U.S. are also holding protests decrying the murder of Floyd and calling for an end to police brutality against minorities and endemic racism. Among the many anti-racism slogans at these protests: "No lives matter until black lives matter" and "Black lives always matter."
In a slap to the face of both president Donald Trump and his attorney-general Bill Barr, Saturday also saw the largest number of protestors descend on Washington D.C. The return of protestors en masse came only five days after Barr -- on Trump's behest -- ordered D.C. and military police to violently disperse peaceful demonstrators using rubber bullets and tear gas. This widely criticized decision was made to allow Trump to do a photo op at a nearby Episcopal church. Trump earlier boasted he was the country's law and order president but in the face of the massive protests Saturday, could only tweet three words: law and order.
Media reports say anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 protestors massed in front of the heavily fortified White House where Trump is hiding behind a ring of police and soldiers. The massive number of protestors is the largest in the capital since the Women's March against Trump after his inauguration in January 2017.
Protests began early Saturday afternoon near the U.S. Capitol Building and the Lincoln Memorial before converging at the White House. And, responding to stinging criticism he can't stand-up to Trump, defense secretary Mark Esper ordered the departure from D.C. of the remaining 1,600 active-duty U.S. Army troops brought in to quell the peaceful protests.
In response to the Army's retreat, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Saturday said "today is the day we pushed the army out of" Washington. She made her statement at newly renamed "Black Lives Matter Plaza" near the White House. A street in this area spells out in huge gold letters the phrase, Black Lives Matter. The words are visible from the White House.
Incredibly, Trump chose to state a blatant lie about the massive size of the crowd gathered outside the White House. He erroneously tweeted Saturday evening: "Much smaller crowd in D.C. than anticipated. National Guard, Secret Service, and D.C. Police have been doing a fantastic job. Thank you!"
One of the most stunning results of the protests is the growing call to either abolish police departments or defund them to solve the problem of police brutality.
On Saturday, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, who immediately called for the arrest of the four cops involved in Floyd's death, was booed by protesters after refusing to defund and abolish the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).
"Go home, Jacob, go home" and "shame," shouted protestors at Frey after he said he opposed defunding the MPD.
Frey's spokesman later said the mayor is unwavering in his commitment to working with MPD chief Medaria Arradondo toward massive structural reforms to revise a racist system. He emphasized Frey doesn't support abolishing the MPD. Calls to abolish the police is made by movement within the BLM movement, according to sources quoted by media.
