National Guard deployed as Philadelphia protest turn violent

• The Associated Press
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  The Associated Press (AP) is a U.S.-based not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.

(Philadelphia) — National Guard vehicles bordered City Hall and other government buildings in downtown Philadelphia on Monday as an overnight curfew lifted following ongoing protests over George Floyd’s death that led to over 400 weekend arrests.

Philadelphia officials closed most services and business in the city’s center after a second day of peaceful protests over Floyd’s death in Minnesota last week turned into another night of destruction in cities nationwide.

Fire crews battled blazes into the early morning, some that threatened whole blocks either through spread of flames or collapses, and disrupted subway service. A fire spokesperson tweeted that crews had responded to nearly 250 fire calls.

The Ben Franklin Bridge and other roads into Philadelphia reopened, and public transportation had restarted with some disruptions from damage. But transit officials shut down all downtown bus, trolley and subway stops at noon Monday in anticipation of more protests planned throughout the afternoon.

Closures also included many downtown coronavirus testing sites, though officials said sites in other areas of the city are open.

Curfews, barricades and police presence pushed many of the protests into neighborhoods away from downtown late Sunday — but not until more store windows were broken along business corridors around City Hall and dozens of arrests were made.

It was unclear from news releases where the National Guard troops would be stationed Monday or whether they would be moved if another day of unrest broke out in areas outside downtown.

People ran into stores in northeast Philadelphia and emerged with merchandise into late Sunday. And in predominantly black west Philadelphia, police fired tear gas as people broke into boarded storefronts, stole merchandise and damaged property including a row of police vehicles.

Television footage showed people smashing cruiser windows, rifling through the empty vehicles and pushing the cars into others.

Neighbors and residents gathered Monday morning along a business corridor on Germantown Avenue in northeast Philadelphia to clean up broken glass and other debris.

City Councilwoman Jamie Gauthier, who represents parts of west and southwest Philadelphia, tweeted that neighbors had showed up to help clean up the 52nd Street corridor.

A fire that broke out around 7:30 a.m. at a business in the Olney neighborhood was quickly brought under control, Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said. It was too early to say what caused it, he said.

A fire late Sunday that appeared to have started at a Rent-A-Center in the Kensington neighborhood caused parts of several stores and apartment buildings to collapse, Thiel said early Monday. Buses replaced a stretch of elevated train line as fire crews worked near the tracks.

The flames at one point endangered the entire block, and even after the fire was put out, the threat of collapses persisted, officials said.

No injuries were reported in any of the fires Sunday night or Monday morning, officials said. Several firefighters had been hurt battling downtown fires Saturday.

Close to 20 police officers have been injured, city officials said Sunday, including an officer who was hit by a vehicle and several hit with bricks.

Police said they made 429 arrests from Saturday to early Monday, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Floyd, a black man in handcuffs, died last week after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes, even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.