As protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers continued outside the White House, President Donald Trump was reportedly taken into an underground bunker by the Secret Service for about an hour Friday evening.

The report comes via CNN just now, where CNN senior national correspondent Alex Marquardt was reporting live from Washington, D.C. during a program hosted by Don Lemon.

Marquardt discussed the protests that had occurred in D.C. and many other cities across America over the past few nights. Like several other cities, D.C. has imposed a curfew, effective at 11:00 pm local time.

Marquardt noted that the protest had been peaceful during the day, but expected that it would start to get “violent” and “unruly” as the sun was setting. The National Guard has been deployed in D.C. to help keep order and was continuing to assist D.C. police and federal park service officers specifically in attempting to maintain distance between the protesters and the White House.

Lemon then read a breaking news report, stating that while protesters gathered outside the White House Friday evening, Trump was ” briefly taken to the White House underground bunker for a period of time,” citing as sources a “White House official” and a “law enforcement source.”

Trump was reportedly in the bunker for a little under an hour before being brought back upstairs. It was unknown whether his wife Melania Trump or son Barron Trump accompanied him.

“Things got a bit serious,” said Lemon about Trump being brought down to the bunker. “That’s only done when there’s a real emergency at the White House.”

Marquardt agreed with Lemon, calling it an “extraordinary development,” adding, “That does show there was a significant fear of the situation that was unfolding out here.”

Moreover, he said, it might explain Trump’s “flurry of tweets” on Saturday morning that were directed at the protesters, saying that the Secret Service was ready to unleash “the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons.” Trump’s tweets were “met with fury” from the mayor of D.C. who called him extremely divisive and essentially accused him of inciting violence, and increasing the tension between the city government and the White House.

“Clearly, those around the president on Friday night felt that the protests had gotten violent enough to warrant taking the president down into that underground bunker in the White House,” concluded Marquardt.

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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Screenshot from @cta via Twitter.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), the public transportation agency for the city of Chicago and surrounding suburbs, is facing criticism after it announced it was suspending all bus and rail service Sunday evening.

The reason given for the suspension of service was “at the request of public safety officials,” apparently in response to the protests that have occurred in Chicago and many other cities across America after George Floyd was killed while being arrested by the Minneapolis Police.

The CTA posted on their Twitter account about the suspension at 5:17 pm CT, just a little more than an hour before the suspension was set to go into effect at 6:30 pm CT. There does not appear to be any such announcement on their Facebook page and it’s unclear what other methods the CTA used to communicate the suspension. Several users also posted complaints indicating that service might have ended even earlier than the announced 6:30 pm cutoff.

[Service Suspended] At 6:30pm, service will be suspended on all bus and rail lines at the request of public safety officials. Service is expected to resume tomorrow morning.

— cta (@cta) May 31, 2020

Reactions from Chicagoans to the suspension of service were overwhelmingly negative. Presumably, fewer office workers might not need to commute home on a Sunday evening but there were still a number of other people posting on Twitter their frustration about losing their regular transportation — especially considering the late and insufficient notice and the need to comply with a citywide curfew imposed due to the protests.

Essential Worker here. Stranded 11 miles from home.

You @chicagosmayor has failed this test miserably.

We are all voters and will remember this.

— G Curtis (@CurtisGycurtis) May 31, 2020

at least us get home safe, coming out from work going to have to walk almost 8 miles

— Miss_K ChoMi (@DalliaSorenn) May 31, 2020

@chicagosmayor another day, another awful last minute decision.

— Jono (@jono1989_) May 31, 2020

This is absolutely wrong. How are we supposed to get home before 9:00? An hour’s notice?!

— Rachel Miller (@millerra06) May 31, 2020

How do I get home?

— Keebler Youngblood (@YoungKeebler) May 31, 2020

So people who started the day relying on transit to get home, what’s your plan for them? Even people who aren’t protesting are harmed by your foolishness. We will remember this.

— Side order of Queso (@Grantarita) May 31, 2020

Bad call to do this without notice. @LoriLightfoot do better!

— Adam Martin (@BarnabyJones33) May 31, 2020

This is about to wreak absolute havoc on shift changes at hospitals in the middle of a pandemic, trapping essential workers all over the city.

— Tricia Rae Pendergrast (@traependergrast) May 31, 2020

YOU SUSPENDED EVERYTHING 45 MINUTES AGO I AM STRANDED

— Max Wasserman (@mwasser78) May 31, 2020

All of the bus and rail lines are already stopped- it’s not even 5:30. What image are you trying to protect?

— carmen stan diego (@TylerQHenry) May 31, 2020

As a nurse i have to be on the train by 515 to get to My medical center on time. Making the announcement 5am is very inconsiderate to hospital workers who majority starts at 7am. We don’t all work 9-5

— Sara Terwelp (@NurseSara924) May 31, 2020

(Photo Credit: Phoebe Leila Barghouty)

Huffington Post reporter Christopher Mathias, donning press credentials around his neck, reportedly was arrested Saturday night in New York while covering demonstrations in the city.

Confirmed that this is @huffpost reporter @letsgomathias getting arrested — I didn’t catch when they first apprehended him but it was incredibly violent. His press badge is clearly visible. pic.twitter.com/ob3FvEzkiK

— Phoebe Leila Barghouty (@PLBarghouty) May 31, 2020

A statement posted to Twitter by The Huffington Post demanded that the New York Police Department release Mathias immediately.

“We are extremely alarmed that our reporter Chris Mathias has apparently been taken into NYPD custody while doing his job as a journalist. We demand that he be released immediately,” the statement read.

We are extremely alarmed that our reporter Chris Mathias (@letsgomathias) has apparently been taken into NYPD custody while doing his job as a journalist. We demand that he be released immediately. CC: @NYPDnews @NYCMayor @NewYorkStateAG

— HuffPost (@HuffPost) May 31, 2020

The Daily Beast’s Will Sommer following Mathias’ arrest also tweeted support for the reporter – while urging NYPD to “release him immediately.”

.@letsgomathias is a great reporter and a great guy. NYPD needs to release him immediately. https://t.co/8b7TN4yhXj

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) May 31, 2020

.@letsgomathias is our friend and colleague and is one of the most professional field reporters out there. If you have any information about the arrest or the precinct he’s at, reach out. https://t.co/Im8iVTYMdK

— Andy Campbell (@AndyBCampbell) May 31, 2020

Well congrats NYPD, you just arrested the nicest man on the planet with his press pass clearly hanging from his neck. Let him go. https://t.co/nwjgeZIgOu

— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) May 31, 2020

Prior to his arrest by police, Mathias tweeted out numerous videos of the scene in Brooklyn, New York.

We got a dumpster fire and another cop car on fire in Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/hHHL19uN8S

— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) May 31, 2020

Cop in white shirt gets angry starts pushing barricade at protesters pic.twitter.com/WeAr1jcDWz

— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) May 31, 2020

You can follow this author on Twitter (@ZTPetrizzo).

MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi was hit by a rubber bullet live on-air while reporting on the unrest and protests occurring in Minneapolis on Saturday night.

“Aw sh*t, alright guys, I got hit,” Velshi exclaimed, in severe pain while grabbing at his leg.

He continued, “Ya, I got hit; hold on.”

I’m hit in the leg by a rubber bullet but am fine. State Police supported by National guard fired unprovoked into an entirely peaceful rally

— Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) May 31, 2020

MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle replied to Velshi’s tweet, saying he had been struck by a rubber bullet, urging her colleague to be safe.

Please be safe my friend xo

— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) May 31, 2020

The demonstrations across the country follow the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year old black man, while being arrested in Minneapolis on Monday.

You can follow this author on Twitter (@ZTPetrizzo).

Tom Aviles, a veteran photojournalist with WCCO, Minneapolis’ CBS affiliate, was struck in the leg by a rubber bullet and then arrested by Minneapolis police Saturday evening while covering the protests over the killing of George Floyd.

Aviles was filming at the time, so the incident is captured on video, although at the end the view is obscured as Aviles’ camera falls to the ground.

WCCO photojournalist records himself getting shot in the leg with a rubber bullet and arrested by state patrol pic.twitter.com/kPVn6SZU65

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) May 31, 2020

A longer video was posted on the WCCO website:

A line of police officers in riot gear advance forward, firing what appears to be tear gas and rubber bullets. Aviles can be heard yelling in pain, “Ah! Jesus Christ!” as the video footage gets shaky and he attempts to move away from the police.

One officer approaches Aviles and instructs him to leave.

“Where do I go? I’m with WCCO,” Aviles replies. He identifies himself as affiliated with WCCO several times, and also yells at other officers who were apparently approaching the station’s vehicle, “That’s a WCCO car!”

The officers continue to shout for him and the other people present to go, move along, and Aviles keeps moving away from them, shouting repeatedly for his producer, “Joan.”

“You’re under arrest, get down, you’re under arrest, get down!” one officer shouts at Aviles as he’s forced down to the pavement. Aviles sets his camera down on the ground as the officer drops his baton and tells him to put his hands behind his back.

“Do not fight!” instructs the officer.

“I’m not fighting, I’m not fighting,” replies Aviles.

WCCO reported that they had been in contact with Aviles and “he’s OK and CBS attorneys have been called” and were working on getting him released.

The producer, Joan Gilbertson, reported that the police officers had threatened to arrest her as well. Like Aviles, she had repeatedly identified as a member of the local media, and put her hands up and said “don’t shoot me.” She was not arrested and was able to pick up Aviles’ camera and bring it back to the station.

(Screenshot via Twitter NY Post’s Steven Nelson.)

The White House’s perimeter Saturday night swarmed with volatile demonstrators — following a nationwide outcry over the killing of an unarmed 46-year old black man, George Floyd, while being arrested by four Minneapolis police officers on Monday. One of the officers, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Barricades have fallen to the west of the White House and the crowd is surging forward, once again coming face-to-face with Secret Service who’ve moved into formation and raised their riot shields—a few stained yellow from eggs just thrown. pic.twitter.com/B0AMIk8aMZ

— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) May 30, 2020

A scene from the White House tonight I captured. Protests have had pockets of tension. Law enforcement has on a few occasions used less than lethal force, including tear gas. I don’t know I’ve ever seen my city like this. pic.twitter.com/5fkIOJ8KvR

— Jared Holt (@jaredlholt) May 31, 2020

With unrest and frustration boiling over, demonstrators Friday night along Pennsylvania Avenue began throwing objects at police officers donning riot gear.

The latest of many scuffles outside White House #dcprotest

Pepper spray has many of us coughing pic.twitter.com/wEiemZ05zR

— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) May 31, 2020

Police could be seen, in videos captured on the scene, responding by striking protesters with riot batons and firing pepper spray.

NOW: Thousands shouting for justice near the WH. ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ pic.twitter.com/TmPNCyPffY

— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) May 31, 2020

NOW: Protesters run after tearing down a gate and throwing water bottles at police. pic.twitter.com/sGp0VZt94m

— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) May 31, 2020

Tensions flared near the White House. Not sure what triggered it, all I saw was a blast of pepper spray and a sudden sprint backward. There’s a lot more pressure on the police cordon and they’re pulling out gas masks. pic.twitter.com/X4uCQRzPkw

— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) May 30, 2020

According to reports, the United States National Guard late Friday night was dispatched onto the scene to aid in safeguarding the area around the White House.

The National Guard has been activated in Washington, DC to assist the US Park Police handling protests around the White House, according to a statement from the DC National Guard

— David P Gelles (@gelles) May 31, 2020

National Guard trucks with personnel in military garb also were captured on video riding around the city.

BREAKING: U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy activates D.C. National Guard to help maintain order near the White House pic.twitter.com/Jkaicv9rhB

— BNO News (@BNONews) May 31, 2020

Armed forces moving in near White House pic.twitter.com/nTNMy3b7QT

— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) May 31, 2020

Screenshot via Twitter (@chieffymac11).

As tensions flare in cities around the country as people protest the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, troubling scenes are being captured by eyewitnesses’ mobile phones, including one such event Saturday evening when two New York Police Department vehicles are seen driving straight into a crowd of protesters.

Video of the incident was captured by several Twitter users, posted below. One NYPD vehicle is seen parked directly in front of a metal barricade while protesters stand on the other side of it, and eventually pick it up and move it about a foot or so forward, closer to the front bumper of the NYPD car.

Some protesters start throwing objects — to be fair, it appears from the video that they are mostly litter, plastic water bottles, rubber traffic cones, and other items that do not appear to visibly damage the police car.

“NY’s Finest”. Disgusting. #BlackLivesMatter #riots2020 #JusticeForGeorgeFlyod pic.twitter.com/GP5vcXRlqy

— Marco (@chieffymac11) May 31, 2020

Another NYPD car drives up along the right side of the first NYPD car, slowly at first, and then suddenly surges forward, pushing the protesters out of the way. The second car then surges forward as well, pushing the metal barricade into the protesters and knocking them back forcefully. Several of them fall down in the street.

Wtf!!! #BlacklivesMaters #brooklynprotest pic.twitter.com/S1oet8JC0x

— Pierre G. (@pgarapon) May 31, 2020

Local NYC channel News12 identified the incident as occurring in Brooklyn, and shared other photos and videos of confrontations between police and protesters.

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Austin, Texas (via Twitter)

Cities across the United States on Saturday saw a day of marching and protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota last week. In many of those cities, the protests have given way to vandalism, violence, civil unrest — including the burning of police vehicles.

Scenes from around the country show burning police cars and clashes with police and even with the Secret Service in D.C.

First, CNN reports from Los Angeles. Below, more videos and photos shared on social media.

An earlier, dramatic protest in Denver, Colorado, made a powerful scene. Without violence.

Incredible scene at Colorado’s Capitol right now. Thousands of protesters are lying face down with their hands behind their backs chanting “I can’t breathe.” They’re doing this for 9 mins. #copolitics #denverprotest #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/PaABvp8ZoM

— Colorado Times Recorder (@COTimesRecorder) May 30, 2020

This post may be updated.

Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

Target deleted a December 31, 2019 Twitter post that read “2020 is our year” on Saturday after several of the retail chain’s stores were looted and set on fire during riots in Minneapolis and Oakland this week. The unrest was related to protests that occurred in numerous cities across America following the death of George Floyd in custody after a Minneapolis police officer was recorded kneeling on his neck, despite complaints from Floyd that he couldn’t breathe.

Social media users were quick to mock Target’s Twitter post, which read, “2020 is our year… Let’s do this!” after stores in Minneapolis and Oakland were looted and set on fire, and dozens more were closed.

However, Target did not join in with the jokes, and quietly deleted its post on Saturday evening.

Autozone and Target are on fire pic.twitter.com/GQ1vu8DJpx

— Max Nesterak (@maxnesterak) May 28, 2020

This @Target in #Oakland sustained a lot of damage. Vandals broke windows, started a fire and that’s why the sprinkler system is still activated. Not seeing anyone that looks like a @target staffer inside. @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/RF9NFAy7eG

— Melissa Colorado (@melissacolorado) May 30, 2020

I was just inside this Target this morning, it’s now being destroyed as protests in Minneapolis have devolved in some cases into looting. Some scary scenes tonight. #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/rBdyq4FBeu

— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) May 28, 2020

Unrest continues to spread across the country in the wake of #GeorgeFloyd’s death. A protest in #Oakland last night started peacefully and eventually took a turn. This is the Target on 27th and Broadway. A fire was reported at the building earlier this morning. @KTVU pic.twitter.com/V9PbNaF51h

— Sara Zendehnam (@szendehnam) May 30, 2020

Target reportedly closed 47 stores temporarily this week in response to the riots.

The store issued a statement, “We are heartbroken by the death of George Floyd and the pain it is causing our community. At this time, we have made the decision to close a number of our stores until further notice. Our focus will remain on our team members’ safety and helping our community heal.”

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George Floyd‘s brother Philonise Floyd was interviewed by Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC’s Politics Nation program on Saturday, and shared his frustration over a conversation with President Donald Trump, saying that the president had seemed dismissive and not listening to what he was trying to say.

Sharpton began the program with some remarks about Floyd’s death while being arrested by Minneapolis police officers, and the protests that have spread around the country in response. He criticized Trump for both “fan[ning] the flames” with incendiary comments, and for “say[ing] nothing at all,” as he did after remarks to the press on Friday. (Trump did speak briefly to reporters again later Friday, and answer a few questions.)

Sharpton then introduced Floyd, as well as George Floyd’s nephew Brandon Williams. Sharpton asked Floyd about charges against the four officers who had arrested his brother. Derek Chauvin, who was seen on video kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, has been arrested and charged with third degree murder and manslaughter. The other three have not been charged with any crimes so far, although all four were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department.

Floyd replied to Sharpton that yes, he was hoping that the other three officers would also be arrested and all four charged and prosecuted for first degree murder and given the death penalty:

They didn’t care about what they wanted to do with my brother. He wasn’t a person to them, he was scum, he was nothing. And I can imagine how many people they did like that. I don’t need them on the streets to kill anybody else.

 I’m hurt, my family is hurt, his kids are hurt. They will grow up without a father. Everybody is crying and in pain right now. So, if they can do anything, please arrest those other officers and give them murder one. 

Sharpton then asked him about the conversations he and his family had this week with Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

Floyd said that he had “never had to beg a man before” for anything, but had asked both of them for justice for his brother. He emotionally described how he “did not want to see his brother on a t-shirt,” adding that “nobody deserved that, black folks don’t deserve that.”

“It’s pain, we’re fueled by pain right now.”

Asked specifically about the conversation with Trump, Floyd said, “It was so fast, he didn’t give me an opportunity to even speak.”

“It was hard. I was trying to talk to him, but he just kept, like, pushing me off, like I don’t want to hear what you’re talking about,” Floyd continued. “And I just told him, I want justice. I said, that I can’t believe they committed a modern day lynching in broad daylight.”

The pain clear in his voice, Floyd added, “I can’t stand for that, I can’t. And it hurt me. I just don’t understand, man. Why we gotta go through this? Why we have to have all this pain, man? I love my brother. I’m never going to see him again.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson offered up a bizarre tirade against unnamed “authorities” on Friday night, which began by attacking these ambiguous elites for allowing “masked lunatics” and “thugs” to confront police and riot in Minneapolis and elsewhere across the county and that finally ended with him expressing disgust at the “demand you get a permit to put a deck on your own house.”

In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, who died in police custody after one Minneapolis officer, since charged with murder, pinned his neck to the pavement for nine minutes, protests have spread across the country, some of them destroying property and setting fire to a police precinct. Carlson railed against these scenes and said the people shown in the streets were being given a free pass to burn, vandalize, and rob without consequences — and the country’s leaders were now abetting them.

“Which side of that war have our leaders taken? Watch carefully and it will become obvious,” Carlson claimed. “The rioters in Minneapolis and other places, act as if they’re allowed to loot and burn, and in fact they are allowed. No one stops them. The authorities don’t arrest them and instead the pander to them, flatter to them , desperately trying to win their love.”

“Why are masked lunatics setting fire to Wendy’s? ‘Because the rest of us are sinful,'” Carlson said in a mocking tone, before taking subtle jab at the Trump administration for not cracking down on the protestors. “That’s what our leaders tell us. The crimes of the mob are the punishment we deserve. That’s their argument. Many seem to buy it. On a White House executive staff call just this morning, key domestic policy advisers Brooke Rollins and Jeron Smith argued that it might seem racist to say anything about the rioting in Minneapolis. Better just to let it happen, so that’s what they’re doing. We should have seen this coming.”

“The game is rigged. Why are the rest of us still playing?” Carlson asked. “We have more power than we think we do. Our system only functions because dutiful normal people, people with self-control and decency and above all a sense of responsibility toward others created our system. They sustain the system. They pay the bills. None of the thugs looting Target or the well-placed nihilists on television egging them on have added a thing. Yet all of the destroyers expect this arrangement to last forever.”

“The authorities clearly don’t care about you. The police won’t show up to save your life. Literally,” the Fox host outrageously claimed. “When the mob comes commit they are gone. You are on your own. That is true. Those are the facts. We can’t change them, all we can control is our own behavior. Should you keep playing along with all of that? Ponder that the next time they demand you get a permit to put a deck on your own house. Or the next time you write a tax check.”

Watch the video above, via Fox News.

We reported earlier on CNN’s Nick Valencia describing how violent things have been getting in Atlanta tonight. Protesters gathered around the CNN Center in Atlanta, and Valencia returned to air with a harrowing report from inside the building itself on a tense scene between protesters and the police.

Valencia reported to Chris Cuomo on the “unreal” scene at the building, saying, “They’ve broken out the windows here, they’re continuing to throw objects, another projectile fired, appeared to be a full water bottle… At least two officers have been injured, one of them appeared to be seriously injured, being dragged out.”

CNN viewers watched as Valencia described in real time someone throw “something that appears to be a smoke grenade” into the building.

Valencia continued to report as police officers held the line. At one point (at 12:45 in the video above), someone threw what appeared to be a firecracker. A shaken Valencia said “shit!” on the air and took a moment to ask if others there were okay.

He continued to report and, as he spoke to Cuomo, said, “Security’s telling us to go… We’re getting out of here. We’ll get back to you later.”

You can watch above, via CNN.

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson swiped at former President Barack Obama for his statement on Minneapolis and the killing of George Floyd, calling him “America’s chief racial arsonist.”

Carlson recalled how Obama “condemned rioting” when he was president before saying, “President Obama has long been — no one wants to say it, but it’s true — America’s chief racial arsonist.”

He played video of Obama sayind in 2015, after the Baltimore riots, “There is no excuse for the kind of violence we saw yesterday… They’re not protesting. They’re not making a statement. They’re stealing. When they burn down a building, they’re committing arson.”

Today Obama issued a statement reflecting on Floyd’s death after being pinned down by a police officer kneeling on his neck. “This shouldn’t be ‘normal’ in 2020 America. It can’t be ‘normal.’ If we want our children to grow up in a nation that lifts up to its highest ideals, we can and must be better.”

Carlson went on to say this about the former president’s statement:

“He accused the countries country’s hospital and courts of being racist and discriminatory. He never mentioned the riots at all. It’s like they didn’t happen. Apparently he doesn’t care about the black neighborhoods being torched, it’s not like he’s ever lived in one.”

A few minutes later, Brian Kilmeade added, “Them when I watch President Obama write this letter, and I think — you know, he is a deep thinker, a very bright guy, a great writer —  and he writes this letter about what people are saying to him about these riots and what role race plays, and he covers the whole thing, and then he says it’s up to law enforcement to crack down and it’s up to the Justice Department to find justice. Okay. What’s missing from that story? Mr. President, you’re not in the eye of the storm, you’re there to analyze.”

He criticized Obama for leaving out “half the story” because “the last three days have not been about George Lloyd [sic], the last three days have been about the riots in the streets, the burning down of innocent people, the destruction of businesses.”

You can watch above, via Fox News.