promoearn: A 'perfect storm' of civil unrest

Sunday, May 31

Protesters are sprayed with pepper spray by Detroit police officers in riot gear in downtown after an afternoon march and rally against police brutality extended into the evening and became contentious on Friday, May 29, 2020 in Detroit.

Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend

Protests against police brutality erupted across the United States and globally. SpaceX makes history with launch. Here's the weekend's biggest news.

This is America right now

Anger, fear and frustration bubbled over the weekend as police conflicts with protesters and looters spread in cities across the United States. An array of combustible issues converged to form a "perfect storm" of civil unrest, experts and protest organizers say, following the death of George Floyd — the black man who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis.

How did we get here? A timeline of events leading up to this nationwide outcry.

•	Protests intensified Friday: Fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was arrested on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter after Floyd's death. The White House went on lockdown after protesters amassed outside, and Atlanta's mayor delivered an impassioned plea for violence in her city to stop.
•	Protests spread to more cities Saturday: More than 1,400 people were arrested in 16 cities since Thursday. Two New York Police Department vehicles Saturday plowed into demonstrators rallying against police brutality. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the officers saying their safety was threatened by the crowd .
•	Protests continued into Sunday: Many curfews remained in place Sunday and the National Guard is still being deployed into major U.S. cities as more demonstrations are expected across the country. And health experts fear the lack of social distancing at protests could lead to an increased spread of coronavirus.

See impactful photos from the protests here.

The latest:

•	Minnesota Governor Tim Walz promised to bring "the full force of goodness and righteousness" as law enforcement enforced a curfew in Minneapolis. "Don't go out of your homes; don't make things more difficult," Walz said.
•	President Donald Trump says he'll designate Antifa as a terror organization and thinks they are leading the violence at anti-police brutality protests.
•	Journalists are being blinded, injured and arrested for covering the Floyd protests nationwide.
•	Globally, thousands of people gathered across central London and other international capital cities this weekend to protest the killing of Floyd.

The murder case of ex-officer Derek Chauvin

The lawyer for George Floyd's family, Benjamin Crump, said the owner of a nightclub where Floyd worked notified the family that his accused killer, Derek Chauvin, was an off-duty officer there. Crump said Chauvin, who has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder, should be charged with first-degree murder . Floyd's family members and Minneapolis leaders urged Gov. Tim Walz to name state Attorney General Keith Ellison special prosecutor to examine his death.

The bigger picture: More to consider

'Riots,' 'violence,' 'looting': Words matter when talking about race and unrest, experts say: "Historians and sociologists said reflexively condemning the actions as reckless or self-defeating minimizes the extent of people's rage. For all the denouncements, there are many who defend riots as the actions of those who have exhausted every other way to be heard." Read the full story.

Peaceful protesters lament violence at George Floyd demonstrations, but understand the rage behind it: "On the one hand, violence sabotages a message of social justice and may prove counterproductive. On the other, fury over George Floyd's death is understandable — and it could be effective in changing public consciousness. 'How many times do we have to say our lives matter?' said Calvetta Williams, founder of Mothers Against Violence." Read the full story.

George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What do we tell our children: "Racism persists, experts say, because many parents avoid difficult conversations. Experts in child psychology and race-based stress say these conversations are essential for all parents to have, and they underscore that there are developmentally appropriate ways to talk to children of all ages about racism and police brutality." Read the full story.

Smoke rises from a fire on a police cruiser in Center City during the Justice for George Floyd Philadelphia Protest on Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Philadelphia.

Yong Kim, The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP

Real quick

•	New England Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty said on Instagram Saturday that his wife Michelle's pregnancy had ended in a stillbirth.
•	Kylie Jenner's status as a billionaire has been called into question by Forbes in a story that also raises questions about the magazine's ability to accurately assess the finances of celebrities.
•	'We are heartbroken': Kiss guitarist Bob Kulick dead at 70. No cause of death was shared.
•	Woody Allen slams son Ronan Farrow's reporting after New York Times' criticism.
•	A divided Supreme Court refused Friday night to allow churches in California and Illinois to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic with more worshippers than state plans permit.

NASA and SpaceX make history with space launch

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley returned to space Saturday on a historic mission nearly a decade in the making . The flight marked the first time a private company has sent humans into orbit — and the first time in nearly a decade that the United States launched astronauts into orbit from U.S. soil. In attendance to watch the launch in person: President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. "I think this is such a great inspiration for our country," said the president. "I think any one of you would say that was an inspiration to see what we just saw." Safely and ahead of schedule, astronauts Behnken and Hurley docked with the International Space Station on Sunday.

•	Photos: SpaceX successfully launches humans into orbit.

A SpaceX Falcon 9, with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken in the Crew Dragon capsule, lifts off from pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center.

David J. Phillip, AP

Cuomo signs bill giving death benefits to families of frontline workers

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday signed a bill into law that creates a death benefit for the families of state and local government workers who have been on the front lines of the state's coronavirus response, according to a statement. Those workers "gave their lives for us," Cuomo said in a statement. New York has been the state hardest hit by the coronavirus. On Saturday, Cuomo also confirmed 1,376 new cases of the virus. According to the governor's office, that brings the statewide total to 369,660 confirmed cases.

•	A Lake of the Ozarks pool partier tested positive for coronavirus. The subject arrived at the lake on Saturday, May 23, and "developed illness" on Sunday.
•	Americans see the pandemic primarily as a health crisis rather than a financial on, a new poll has found.

Artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada works on a 20,000 square foot mural of a health care worker in a parking lot in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the Queens borough of New York, Wednesday, May 27, 2020. The mural is to honor those who lost their lives during the coronavirus pandemic, especially minority health care workers. The portrait was inspired by Dr. Ydelfonso Decoo, an immigrant doctor who died from coronavirus complications while serving hard-hit communities of color.

Seth Wenig, AP

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This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Contributing: Associated Press.