The White House was briefly placed on lockdown Friday evening after throngs of people congregated outside the building to protest the death of a black man in Minnesota.
CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang reported that officials at the White House were preparing for a mass of protesters marching from Lafayette Square Park in Washington, D.C.
“The White House is currently under lockdown orders,” Jiang tweeted in response to a video showing a large group of people spray-painting a building in the nation’s capital.
The White House is currently under lockdown orders. https://t.co/LasnCIjkum
— Weijia Jiang (@weijia) May 29, 2020
Video circulating on Twitter from outside the White House show people breaking barricades, which prompted a quick response from the Secret Service. The White House press corps had been instructed to stay inside.
The Secret Service is pushing back protesters outside of the White House after demonstrators broke barricades.
The White House is on lockdown as press is being told to stay inside. pic.twitter.com/0p27MRnVUd
— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) May 29, 2020
President Trump, who made an announcement at the White House about the World Health Organization earlier in the day, was likely in the White House at the time.
About an hour later, journalists reported the lockdown had been lifted, but protest activity extended all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol grounds into the night.
White House lockdown lifted. Heading out. pic.twitter.com/7lO32ZOxx9
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) May 30, 2020
Protesters in major cities across the country are demonstrating after 46-year-old George Floyd died in the custody of Minneapolis police on Monday. Floyd, a black man, died after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin restrained him by placing his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Chauvin and three other officers involved in Floyd’s detainment were fired on Tuesday. Chauvin was taken into custody on Friday and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
