Third night of fighting for George Floyd escalated rather than stopped by Mayor's curfew

Update:Trump moved to bunker a second time Sun night

Video-police fire flashbangs and deploy gas, curfew fails 2 min 59 sec

The last day of May in DC was another long day and long night of protest. Mayor Bowser declared an 11PM curfew after protesters were not dispersed by police fireworks, but police offensives to enforce the curfew against protesters failed. As police violence escalated protesters responded with force and fire, and one of the fires burned a White House utility shack(wrongly reported on Twitter as a guard shack).

As action began, protesters filled the part of Lafayette Square that had been liberated the previous night when the first row of barricades were forcibly removed. At first this was a very mild-mannered protest, with familes present and a festive atmosphere. Families and other vulnerable people withdrew as protesters decided to challenge the second rank of barricades. The sound of shaking steel was met with threats of violence and the launching of flashbangs.

During the afternoon and evening, police were the primary initiators of violent incidents, firing their "flashbang" fireworks while defending useless positions like the spot on 14th st where cops nearly got kettled by protesters while a march was stopped south of them. Unknown if cops had blocked that march, but a lot of loud explosions consistant with flashbang "grenades" were heard from that area. As on previous days there were many stampedes caused by these harmless fireworks, which throw no shrapnel unlike the better-known "frag" grenades or even stingball grenades (which throw rubber pellets).

The march that broke free from that afternoon battle wound around downtown and circled the White House before returning to Lafayette Square from the West for a more determined effort at a siege. More beautiful graffiti appeared, and police became increasingly violent. Huge lines of riot cops positioned themselves behind the second (now the first) fenceline, and at intervals they fired flashbangs or dispersed teargas into the air from what looked like fire extinguishers. This was NOT the 17% OC pepper spray from similar looking containers known to many from the Deploraball, J20, or IMF/World Bank protests of old. This was actual tear gas, possibly related to military/National Guard participation in police violence against protesters.

It was widely announced at this time that on Friday, protesters at the same site had succeeded in driving Donald Trump into his bunker inside the White House. Unknown if this performance was repeated on Sunday night, but late in the night a White House guard shack went up in flames.

As matters escalated, Mayor Bowser tweeted that she was declaring an 11PM to 6AM curfew for Sun-Monday night, but declined to properly and legally announce it. Many mainstream media outlets never even mentioned it. Cellphone "emergency alerts" went only to those whose phones support receiving such alert and often were distrusted. At any rate, the curfew not only did NOT stop the protest, it may have directly triggered the wave of fires that began as police dispersed protesters from the White House into furious smaller units that engaged targets all over parts of downtown nearest the White House. The author of this article deliberately slow-rolled the trip home after leaving in exhaustion so as to defy the curfew in solidarity with those still out in the streets.

Again businesses were expropriated and again cars were set on fire. from twitter photos unclear how many were police cars. Someone burned a tree in front of the World Bank. A liquor store was raided, and a large number of whisky bottles were smashed not taken, leaving a stench of firewater in the area. It appears that attempts to enforce the curfew may have triggered the wave of fires. A large number of people were kettled by cops on 17th st late in the night, and let go one at a time after being photographed etc. This is the same "fake mass arrest" strategy police had such bad results (for themselves) from at the Fall 2010 meetings of the IMF and World Bank. Fake mass arrests greatly anger those subjected to them rather in the manner of fake executions used by dictators as a means of torture. This is not over.