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YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. As unrest spread across dozens of American cities on Friday because of the police killing of George Floyd, the Pentagon ordered the Army to put several active-duty U.S. military police units on the ready to deploy toMinneapolis, Fox News reports.
The get-ready orders were sent verbally on Friday, after US President Donald Trump asked Defense Secretary Mark Esper for military options to help quell the unrest in Minneapolis after protests descended into looting and arson in some parts of the city.
A source told Fox News that the military units would be deployed under the Insurrection Act of 1807, which was last used in 1992 during the riots in Los Angeles that followed the Rodney King trial.
Thedeath of George Floyd, anAfrican-Americanman fromMinnesota, occurred on May 25, 2020, when a whiteMinneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd's neck forseveral minutes.Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the road, while the officer had his knee on his neck.
The incident occurred during Floyd's arrest inPowderhorn, a neighborhood south of downtownMinneapolis, Minnesota, and was recorded onsmartphonesof bystanders.The arrest was conducted after Floyd allegedly attempted to use a$20 billin a deli, which an employee identified as counterfeit. Footage of the incident shows Floyd repeatedly saying “I can’t breath”.