Fundamentally Irreconcilable Divisions

"The death of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis was a grave tragedy. It should never have happened. It has filled Americans all over the country with horror, anger and grief."
"We will stand with the family of George Floyd, with the peaceful protesters and with every law abiding citizen who wants decency, civility, safety and security."
"Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled."
"If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them."
"[I am prepared] to stop the rioting and looting, to end the destruction and arson and to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights."
"We cannot allow the righteous cries of peaceful protesters to be drowned out by an angry mob. [The nation is gripped by] professional anarchists."
U.S.President Donald Trump

Mr Trump posed in front of a damaged church shortly after police used tear gas to disperse protesters nearby  Getty Images

Protesters, assembled unlawfully at Lafayette Square across from the White House, ordered to disperse, would not, as police on horseback did their best to push the crowd away from the park. Their president walked out of the White House precincts to approach St.John's Episcopal Church, set on fire on Sunday night, by those calling themselves protesters. The church has heritage status and has hosted White House faithful over the years. The president lingered briefly before it, silently. The acrid smell wafting from its interior held a silent message of reproach.

Across the United States dozens of cities are under curfew. Washington, D.C. and 23 states have called in the National Guard. In Chicago ten thousand calls for looting were received by police according to the city's mayor Lori Lightfoot. The curfew intersects with the planned easing of the sweeping COVID-caused lockdowns enacted to halt the coronavirus spread. The U.S. Justice Department directed the Bureau of Prisons to dispatch riot-control teams to Miami and Washington.

In Minnesota, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner released details of autopsy findings outlining that George Floyd's death was homicidal, caused by asphyxiation. That was not all, the county report noted that cardiopulmonary arrest was suffered by George Floyd during his brief and deadly restraint by police. That as well, he had arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease. Fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use also detected, according to the autopsy report.

Conversely, an autopsy that Floyd's family commissioned, found that he died of asphyxiation resulting from neck and back conditions. None of the other noted findings reported in the Hennepin County report find their way into the family's commissioned autopsy report. According to this report 46-year-old George Floyd had no underlying medical conditions. Contradicting the official original report concluding that coronary artery disease and hypertension likely contributed to his death.

Knee crushing George Floyd's Neck

Up to 80 percent of people involved in the protests that turned into riots, according to to Tim Walz, Minnesota's governor, had arrived from outside the state. "Bad actors continue to infiltrate the rightful protests of George Floyd's murder", he stated. The deputy commissioner of New York Police, John Miller, spoke of a well-planned campaign launched by extremist groups, with scouts, supply routes to circulate gasoline to set fires, along with dedicated medics, encryped messaging, and bail financing for those arrested.

"They prepared to commit property damage, directed people who were following them that this should be done selectively, and only in wealthier areas, or at high-end stores run by corporate entities", clarified NYP's John Miller. According to Ben Crump, an attorney retained by the Floyd family, they are aiming to influence the laying of first-degree murder charges against all four officers involved at the scene of George Floyd's killing. The family deplores the violence that has erupted everywhere out of the protests, and wants an end to it.

"George died because he needed a breath, a breath of air. I implore you all to join his family in taking a breath -- taking a breath for justice, taking a breath for peace, taking a breath for our country and more importantly, taking a breath for George", said attorney Crump. To which George Floyd's brother Terrence, informed a gathering of people, the solution is for people to become better educated, vote and not destroy their own communities.