People across the U.S. and around the world gathered in major demonstrations on Sunday against racism and police violence, marking the 13th consecutive day of protests since the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota last month.
In Washington D.C., tens of thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial and near the White House Saturday in what was likely the city’s largest demonstration yet.
Protesters in Bristol, England, toppled a statue of slave trader Edward Colston, whose company transported tens of thousands of slaves across the Atlantic Ocean between 1672 and 1689, and threw it into the city’s harbor.
Thousands of demonstrators also took to the streets in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City and many other cities from coast to coast.
Thousands of protesters marched across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
On Saturday night, a suspect was arrested after an SUV plowed through a crowd of kneeling protesters in Brooklyn, injuring four people.
Massive demonstrations have also broken out across the world from Europe to Australia, with tens of thousands of protesters calling for an end to racism and police brutality in their own countries.
In Hong Kong, people staged a demonstration on Sunday in front of the U.S. Consulate, holding up pictures of Floyd and “Black Lives Matter” signs. Massive crowds also took to the streets across France, Germany and Italy.
In London, some protesters near Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s residence clashed with police officers.
More than 43,300 National Guard members were on duty on in 34 states and D.C to respond to protests, many of which have been peaceful. In some cases, peaceful protests have been followed with looting and violence at night. Trump said Sunday morning that he had ordered the National Guard to start withdrawing from the nation’s capital.
A memorial service was held in Raeford, North Carolina Saturday for Floyd, a black man whom a white Minneapolis police officer pinned under his knee for more than eight minutes.
The incident was caught on video and the fired officer, Derek Chauvin, faces second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. Three other officers were also fired and charged with aiding and abetting murder.
Former Vice President Joe Biden will go to Houston on Mondayto personally pay respects to Floyd’s family. A funeral is scheduled for Floyd on Tuesday in Houston.
In response to widespread anger and protesting, some U.S. cities have responded to police brutality by suspending officers who have been caught on camera being violent towards protesters, as well as banning police tactics like chokeholds and the use of tear gas and rubber bullets.
Two Buffalo Police officers who have received national criticism after a video was captured showing them shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground and leaving him bleeding in front of Buffalo City Hall on Thursday night. They were charged with assault in the second degree on Saturday.
In Philadelphia, District Attorney Larry Krasner arrested and charged a city police department staff inspector with aggravated assault after the inspector struck a protesting college student in the head with a baton on Monday. The student had serious injuries including a head wound that required staples.
Two NYPD officers were also suspended after they were caught on video attacking demonstrators. One officer shoved a woman to the ground in Brooklyn and another officer pulled a protester’s facemask down and pepper sprayed him.
Other videos show multiple instances of abuse by New York officers, including one video that showed a police car plowing through a crowd of demonstrators and another of officers using batons against peaceful protesters in order to move them.
Minneapolis city leaders agreed on Friday to ban the use of chokeholds by police. In Seattle, police Chief Carmen Best ordered officers to stop using tear gas on protesters over the next 30 days.
And in Colorado, a federal judge in Denver passed a temporary restraining order on that Friday that bans police from using tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters.