This live coverage has now ended. Continue reading June 8 coverage of George Floyd's death and the nationwide protests.
As the national anger over the death of George Floyd showed little sign of abating, from coast to coast demonstrators marched in cities across the country.
Thousands gathered in Washington D.C. to protest both Floyd's death and President Donald Trump's use of military personnel in response to largely peaceful demonstrations. Marchers also filed across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, while others walked the boulevards of Hollywood and a Nashville, Tennessee.
Meanwhile, Floyd's family members gathered for a song- and prayer-filled private memorial service in North Carolina on Saturday after an earlier public viewing of his body drew long lines of mourners from around the country.
Elsewhere, British anti-racism protesters briefly clashed with mounted police as thousands gathered in central London, while demonstrations also took place in, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Tokyo and a number of other cities around the world.
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Worldwide protests grow as new videos emerge of police clashes
June 7, 202002:57Cincinnati Reds great Joey Votto says #BlackLivesMatter
Cincinnati Reds great Joey Votto on Sunday penned a scathing column - targeting himself and admitting he's turned a blind eye to systemic racism and police brutality.
In a guest column posted by The Cincinnati Enquirer, the star first baseman said George Floyd's death has forced him to open "my eyes to the realities of being a black man in America."
"That privilege kept me from understanding the 'why' behind Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem. That privilege allowed me to ignore my black teammates’ grievances about their experiences with law enforcement, being profiled, and discriminated against," wrote Votto, who grew up just outside of Toronto. "And that privilege has made me complicit in the death of George Floyd, as well as the many other injustices that blacks experience in the U.S. and my native Canada. "
Votto, 36, said supports the Black Lives Matter movement and added: "Only now am I just beginning to hear. I am awakening to their pain, and my ignorance. No longer will I be silent."
Protesters call to defund the police
Protesters call to defund the police after death of George Floyd
June 7, 202002:21Majority of Minneapolis City Council commits to dismantling city's police department
A majority of the Minneapolis City Council agreed Sunday to dismantle the city’s police department after the in-custody killing of George Floyd, a council member said.
In an interview with NBC News, councilman Jeremiah Ellison said the council would work to disband the department in its "current iteration."
"The plan has to start somewhere," he said. "We are not going to hit the eject button without a plan so today was the announcement of the formulation of that plan."
Mitt Romney marches with protesters in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) marched with a group of Christian demonstrators in Washington on Sunday evening, protesting the death of George Floyd.
Sen. Romney: ‘We need to stand up and say, Black Lives Matter’
June 7, 202000:20In videos posted on social media, Romney is seen wearing a mask as the faith-based protesters marched down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the White House. Romney had previously posted a statement on his Twitter account calling Floyd’s killing “abhorrent” and emphasizing the importance of peaceful protests.
“We need a voice against racism. We need many voices against racism and against brutality. And we need to stand up and say black lives matter,” Romney told NBC News when asked why he was marching.
This comes on the heels of Romney joining a group of prominent Republicans who have said that they will not vote for President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
U.K. statue of former slave trader knocked over, dumped into Bristol Harbor
Black Lives Matter protesters took down a statue of Edward Colston in the city center of Bristol, U.K., on Sunday and tossed it into Bristol Harbor. As a Conservative Tory MP for Bristol from 1710 to 1714, Colston defended the city’s "right" to trade in enslaved Africans. Colston ran the Royal African Company for more than a decade before opening up the transatlantic slave trade for the British city.
Colston also invested in the Spanish slave trade as well as in slave-produced sugar. The statue has been a point of contention for the city, which has gone back and forth for the last decade about adding a plaque to elaborate on Colston's slave trade ties. Protesters can be seen in footage that emerged Sunday on social media throwing the statue into the city's harbor.
Canadian pilot draws tribute to George Floyd with airplane
A Canadian pilot used his airplane to draw a tribute to George Floyd over the skies of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Thursday.
The tribute, a raised fist, was captured by flight tracking imagery and took approximately 2½ hours to draw, according to data from FlightAware.
The pilot, Dimitri Neonakis, wrote on his Facebook page that the tribute was his way of showing support to those demonstrating against the death of George Floyd.
“While I was up there moving around free, the words of George Floyd “I can’t Breath” came to mind a few times, a stark contrast,” Neonakis wrote.
Neonakis has drawn other tributes reacting to tragic events, including a heart after the deadly mass shooting in Nova Scotia in April.
Photo: Solidarity in Italy
Joe Biden to visit with family of George Floyd on Monday
Former Vice President Joe Biden will head to Houston on Monday to personally show his condolences to the family of George Floyd, the Biden campaign announced Sunday.
“Vice President Biden will travel to Houston Monday to express his condolences in-person to the Floyd family. He is also recording a video message for the funeral service,” campaign spokesman T.J. Ducklo said in a statement to NBC News.
The Floyd family’s personal lawyer, Benjamin Crump, initially raised eyebrows when he said during a virtual livestream last week that the presumptive Democratic nominee was expected to attend the private funeral in Houston on Tuesday.
Acting on Biden’s wish to personally give his condolences to the Floyd family, the campaign considered multiple options of how best he could pay his respects without disrupting the memorial services this past week. Now that the Democratic candidate is protected by Secret Service, they concluded that attending last Tuesday’s service would have caused too much logistical trouble, so they opted for a private family meeting on Monday with no press in attendance.
4 injured after SUV plows into Brooklyn protesters, driver arrested
A suspect was arrested after an SUV drove through a crowd of kneeling protesters in New York City on Saturday night, leaving four people injured. The driver now faces multiple charges, including reckless endangerment and unlawful possession of marijuana, the NYPD said in a statement to NBC News.
Jacob Leiper, a 44-year-old Queens resident, struck a cyclist after he approached the intersection between Saint John’s Place and Brooklyn Avenue, according to police.
“In an effort to go around the crowd and circumvent the delay, the vehicle operator did drive onto the sidewalk, where he encountered more protestors, some of which struck his car and climbed on it as well,” the NYPD said.
Video posted on social media showed the car driving on the sidewalk into the protesters and hurriedly leaving the scene. Another video posted by Brooklyn resident Chris Welch showed the NYPD arresting Leiper.
Mayor Bill de Blasio proposes shifting funds away from NYPD
Hours after announcing he would be lifting the curfew in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a series of reforms to the New York Police Department in response to the protests over the death of George Floyd that have gripped the city in the past week.
During his Sunday press conference, de Blasio announced four proposals:
1. Shift funding from NYPD to youth and social services
2. Reform 50-a, the law used to prevent police misconduct records from being released to the public
3. NYPD will no long be responsible for vendor enforcement
4. Bring community voices into senior level of NYPD
"In New York City, it takes too long for there to be accountability for officer’s who do the wrong thing," de Blasio said, NBC New York reports.