George Floyd demonstrators across the USA defy curfews and confront police as protests rage for eighth day

Thousands of protesters turned out in force across the US yesterday, defying sweeping curfews and a forceful police response.

PEACEFUL demonstrators demanding justice over the killing of African-American man George Floyd by a police officer last week in Minneapolis, and an end to police brutality, remained on New York City streets on Tuesday night despite a new week-long 8pm curfew announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio in an effort to bring an end to the chaos, the first time in 70 years that the city has been under nightly lockdown.

“We’re going to have a tough few days. We’re going to beat it back,” De Blasio said.

Floyd’s hometown of Houston held a memorial march that drew tens of thousands, marking the eighth day of nationwide demonstrations.

Floyd’s family was in attendance, alongside the mayor, the police chief, and a group of protesters on horseback, with attendees paying respects to a “gentle giant.”

The memorial march was organised by the well-known Houston rappers Trae Tha Truth, who was a longtime friend of Floyd’s, and Bun B, who worked with Floyd’s family for the event. “We’re gonna represent him right,” Trae Tha Truth told the crowd of several hundred gathered for the march. “We are gonna tear the system from the inside out.”