George Floyd protests: Trump puts army on alert to deploy military police to streets of Minneapolis
US Department of Defence officials have ordered active-duty military police to "prepare to deploy" to Minneapolis in the wake of protests and unrest across the US following the police killing of George Floyd.
Donald Trump ordered Defence Secretary Mark Esper to ready units for rapid deployment on Friday, according to reports, as the president increasingly threatens demonstrators with violence and use of force as protests continue.
National Guard service members already have been deployed to Minneapolis after police clashes and buildings were set ablaze, including a police precinct, amid growing protests demanding justice for Mr Floyd, one of the most recent black men to die in police custody and whose death has galvanised calls for sweeping reforms and unleashed furious protests in cities across the US.
Military police units were deployed to Los Angeles in 1992 during riots that following the acquittal of four police officers involved in Rodney King's beating.
Minnesota's governor intends to fully activate the National Guard in the state for the first time in its history as he warned that accelerationist white supremacists are beginning to seize on to the protests.
Tim Walz said the ongoing protests are no longer about Mr Floyd's death but are "about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great cities", he said.
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