Pope Francis condemns racism in US, prays for George Floyd

Pope Francis has broken silence after nearly eight days, condemning racism in the United States and praying for George Floyd and all victims of racism.

"Dear brothers and sisters in the United States, I have witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest in your nation in these past days, following the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd," Francis said during his weekly Angelus prayer at the Vatican on Wednesday.

Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a US police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes despite his cries that he could not breathe.

"My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” Pope said. ”At the same time, we have to recognize that the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost.”

His death, captured on video, has sparked street protests across the US, which are being met with an increasingly heavy-handed police response.

Nightly chaos grips US cities as 4,400 people arrested, troops fire on crowds

Thousands of people have been arrested across the United States in angry protests that have now spread to dozens of cities over the death of unarmed and handcuffed black man George Floyd in police custody.

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of US cities, clashing with police and looting stores in New York.

Large marches and rallies also took place in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Seattle. In Washington, DC, protests were held near the park where demonstrators were cleared out by police on Monday to make a path for President Donald Trump so he could walk from the White House to a historic church for a photo.

Although rallies on behalf of Floyd and other victims of police brutality have been largely peaceful, after dark each night crowds have turned to rioting, vandalism, arson and looting. On Monday night, five police officers were hit by gunfire in two cities.

Outside the US Capitol building on Tuesday afternoon a throng took to one knee, chanting “silence is violence” and “no justice, no peace,” as officers faced them just before a curfew.

The crowd remained in Lafayette park and elsewhere in the capitol after dark, despite the curfew and vows by Trump to crack down on what he has called lawlessness by “hoodlums” and “thugs,” using National Guard or even the US military if necessary.

Dozens of National Guard troops lined up on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial behind black crowd-control barriers.

Police-involved shootings and killings of unarmed black men in the hands of white police officers have led to mass protests across the country in recent years and the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement.

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