Floyd Protesters Reach Right in Front of the White House... Trump Flees to Underground Bunker

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] It was revealed belatedly that U.S. President Donald Trump once took refuge in an underground bunker when protesters demonstrating against the death of Black man George Floyd gathered near the White House on the 25th.

According to local U.S. media such as CNN and The New York Times (NYT) on the 31st (local time), on the night of the 29th when protesters surged near the White House, President Trump moved to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), known as the underground bunker, with his wife Melania and son Barron, and took shelter there for about an hour.

In particular, Melania expressed unease about the protests and did not appear at the private manned spacecraft launch site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the 30th.

Floyd was a Black man who suffocated under the knee of white police officer Derek Chauvin during his arrest on suspicion of counterfeiting bills in Minneapolis, Minnesota on the 25th. A bystander filmed the scene and posted it on social media, sparking protests across the U.S. Initially starting as protests against police violence, the demonstrations escalated into violent riots involving looting and arson, worsening the situation. Protests are occurring simultaneously in at least 75 cities, with shootings reported and at least four deaths confirmed. The number of arrested protesters has exceeded 1,600.

On the same day, President Trump tweeted, "I will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization," and congratulated "a great job done immediately as the National Guard arrived in Minneapolis last night."