George Floyd protest: 40 US cities including Washington impose curfew

As many as 40 cities and Washington D.C. across the United States have imposed curfews on Sunday (local time) in response to the continuing protests against the death of African-American man George Floyd in police custody.

According to CNN, 40 cities have imposed curfews and approximately 5,000 National Guard members have been activated in 15 states and Washington, DC with another 2,000 prepared to activate if needed.

"Today, about 5,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are supporting our local and state partners responding to civil unrest in 15 states and DC [District of Columbia] Thousands more stand ready if needed," Chief of the National Guard Bureau Gen. Joseph Lengyel said on Sunday.

Earlier today, US National security adviser Robert O'Brien denied the claims that systemic racism is present across the American police forces.

O'Brien told CNN that "a few bad apples" give the impression of racism among law enforcement officers in the country.

"No, I don't think there's systemic racism. I think 99.9 per cent of our law enforcement officers are great Americans. Many of them are African American, Hispanic, Asian, they're working the toughest neighbourhood, they've got the hardest jobs to do in this country and I think they're amazing great Americans," O'Brien told CNN on "State of the Union" when asked if systemic racism was a problem for police agencies.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden visited the anti-racism protest in the state of Delaware on Sunday, saying that the United States was "in pain"

"We are a nation in pain right now, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us. As President, I will help lead this conversation -- and more importantly, I will listen, just as I did today visiting the site of last night's protests in Wilmington," said Biden.

The Governor of the US state of Minnesota has extended until Monday the curfew that was imposed on Friday in response to violent protests in Minneapolis and its nearby cities, following the death of African-American man George Floyd in police custody.

"We have reason to believe that bad actors continue to infiltrate the rightful protests of George Floyd's murder, which is why we are extending the curfew by one day," Tim Walz tweeted.

The United States will be designating the far-left anti-fascist movement Antifa as a terrorist organization, President Donald Trump said on Sunday.

"The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Demonstrators across the United States have been protesting since May 25, when George Floyd, a 46-years-old African American man, died under the police custody in the city of Minneapolis.