A night-time curfew has been lifted in the Los Angeles County as largely peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd continued across the area.
Taking to Twitter, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said on Thursday,”Based upon current situational awareness and the recent pattern of peaceful actions by protesters, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will no longer enforce a curfew”.
A curfew had been in effect for four nights in a row in the most populous US county, with a population of over 10 million, since Sunday due to the protests which sometimes descended into chaos.
Supervisor Janice Hahn also took to his Twitter official handle and posted, “I agree with this decision — it gives the peaceful protesters more time to speak out on our streets without fear of arrest”.
Death of 46-year-old African-American man George Floyd who was arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit banknote on May 25 has sparked protests across major cities in the US.
A Minneapolis policeman accused of killing unarmed Floyd by kneeling on his neck was taken into custody on Friday and charged with third-degree murder. Three other officers with him have been fired but for now face no charges.
A video taken by a bystander shows officer officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck as he is pinned to the ground. Floyd who was unarmed and handcuffed, pleaded that he could not breathe. He was soon after declared dead at a nearby hospital.
Earlier, President Donald Trump blamed the extreme left for the violence and said that rioters were dishonoring the memory of Floyd.
Floyd’s killing was seen as the latest example of police brutality against African Americans, which gave rise six years ago to the Black Lives Matter movement.