Crowds reportedly gathered at the White House to protest the killing of George Floyd and also Trumps response to the riots in Minneapolis.
Protesters threw bottles and other objects at officers wearing riot gear behind barricades around the White House. Pepper spray was deployed in an effort to disperse the crowd, and police and protesters wrestled over the barricades.
People gathered in their hundreds chanting “No justice, no peace” and “Say his name: George Floyd.”
Minneapolis went into a state of unrest on Monday after an African American man, George Floyd was killed after a police officer pressed his knees on the mans neck, thereby killing him.
The riot broke out in Minneapolis after the video of the fatal arrest circulated across major social media platforms.
Protesters were seen causing pandemonium, throwing objects and vandalizing vehicles of the Minneapolis State Police Department.
Following the pandemonium in the state, Trump tweeted, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Trump later said his comments had been misconstrued. “Frankly it means when there’s looting, people get shot and they die,” he said.
The protesters in Washington on Friday night chanted curses at Trump, who was in the White House.
Read also: Defiant Twitter labels Trump’s tweet again, stops short of deletion
Earlier Friday, protesters marched toward the White House after beginning their demonstration several blocks away. At one point, a white male was carried off by police into the nearby U.S. Treasury Department Annex building.