George Floyd death: Joe Biden condemns violence overshadowing protests

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemned the violence in a statement, as he continued to express common cause with those demonstrating after George Floyd’s death.

“The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest,” Biden said in a statement Saturday night.

“It should not drive people away from the just cause that protest is meant to advance.”

Officials in Minneapolis say they”ve succeeded for now in stopping the violent protests that ravaged parts of the city for several days after the death of George Floyd.

Police, state troopers and National Guard members moved in to break up protests after an 8 p.m. curfew took effect, firing tear gas and rubber bullets to clear streets outside a police precinct and elsewhere. The show of force came after three days where police mostly declined to engage with protesters.

It also came after the state poured in more than 4,000 National Guard members and said the number would soon rise to nearly 11,000.

As Minneapolis streets appeared largely quiet, Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said the heavy response would remain as long as it takes to “quell this situation.” Floyd, a handcuffed black man, died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.