Chicago shop owners clean up after violent protests

Americans began cleaning up charred and glass-strewn streets on Sunday after another night of unrest fueled by rage over police mistreatment of African Americans destroyed businesses, damaged landmarks and raised tensions across a divided nation.

The chaos reached into every corner of the country, and the scars extended even to buildings near the White House.

Some elected officials prepared to deploy additional National Guard troops in anticipation of more turmoil.

In Chicago some business owners cleared up debris from shop fronts as officials braced for more protests on Sunday.

Chicago officials took extraordinary steps Sunday to patrol and restrict access to the city’s downtown in the hopes of preventing further chaos after a night of tense protests over the death of George Floyd that included violent clashes, hundreds of arrests and smashed windows at stores and banks.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who had already ordered an indefinite nightly 9 p.m. curfew, said the Illinois National Guard had been requested to help keep order. She said only essential workers would be allowed into the central business district, city trains and bus service would be suspended, major streets would be blocked with city sanitation trucks and Chicago River drawbridges allowing pedestrians and vehicles into downtown would remain lifted.