As riots and protests continue to rage across the United States, police presence in cities has increased and some Americans have begun taking up arms to protect their families, businesses, and communities.
Rioters in cities such as Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles looted, pillaged, and burned into the early hours of the morning on Saturday and Sunday. Law enforcement braced for more riots Monday evening, and President Donald Trump
vowed Monday evening to mobilize all federal resources against those engaged in such destructive behavior.
“I am mobilizing all federal resources, civilian and military to stop the rioting and looting, to end the destruction and arson, and to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights,” the president said.
Citizens across the country have already begun to take matters into their own hands in order to protect their livelihoods. Photographs
depict business owners armed with guns protecting their stores from looters and rioters in Santa Monica.
In Florida, a sheriff
encouraged residents to fire upon any prospective looters or pillagers following heated protests that took place in the Lakeland area.
“The people in Polk County like guns, they have guns, I encourage them to own guns,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a press briefing Monday, according to
Fox 13.
“And if you try to break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I’m highly recommending they blow you back out of the house with their guns,” Judd said.
Washington, D.C. protests stayed quieter than previous nights as law enforcement
surrounded protestors before loading some into arrest vans, footage obtained by Daily Caller reporters shows. Helicopters hovered over the city, shut down early for a 7 p.m. curfew mandated by both DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and Trump.
Police
told the Daily Caller that everyone who is arrested will be given a summons (not taken to prison in DC) unless they have committed a felony previously or have a prior warrant.
In Philadelphia, a large group of men reportedly sought to protect the police and their community as they prowled the streets with baseball bats.
In Rochester, New York, and in Chicago, Illinois, armed Arab business owners reportedly kept watch over their stores to protect against looters, according to posts on social media.
In Los Angeles, business owners desperately tried to flag down police to ward off looters from ruining their businesses.
But protests continued to rage in New York, where rioters looted and pillaged the city, and a trooper and an officer were reportedly hit by a car.
By Mary Margaret Olohan
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