June 2 George Floyd protest news

The protesters in Los Angeles have dwindled significantly from their peak of thousands earlier today -- but a small group is still demonstrating outside the mayor's residence, hours after curfew.

The group has been largely peaceful all day, but tensions are rising following the arrival of police, said CNN Correspondent Kyung Lah at the scene.

Police have lined up in formation, and appear to be preparing to try and clear the protesters, who are kneeling on the ground with their hands up.

Earlier today, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he was "proud" of the peaceful protesters, and said he embraced the right of protest and free expression.

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In New York, tensions were high earlier tonight with protesters on the Manhattan Bridge and police on both sides -- but it appears police are now allowing protesters to walk away and leave the area.

Protesters holding signs and holding their arms up slowly walk off, back to the Brooklyn side, as police stand to the side.

"We haven't seen them make arrests or taking folks into custody, allowing those on the bridge to make their way off the bridge," said CNN Correspondent Jason Carroll at the scene.

"So far this falls in line with a lot of the tactics we have seen, not just tonight but last night as well, with the police taking a step back -- allowing some of the demonstrators to have their voice," said Carroll.

What happened: Earlier today, some protesters splintered from a larger group demonstrating in Brooklyn.

They tried to cross the Manhattan Bridge into Manhattan, but were stopped by police. They stayed stuck on the bridge, with some fearful of arrests, before turning around and peacefully walking off.

"Police are standing by -- the tactic is take a backseat approach at this point and allow them to continue marching," said Carroll.

President Donald Trump tweeted about the ongoing protests in New York, citing Fox News in describing the "chaos, lawlessness, and destruction."

"When will Governor Cuomo call the federal government for help?" he tweeted.

What's happening in New York: In Manhattan, scuffles broke out between police and protesters in the western neighborhood of Chelsea, with several protesters arrested or detained.

There were also instances of looting along the downtown area, with CNN Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz observing people break into a wine store and taking bottles.

Further south, protesters have gathered on the Manhattan Bridge. Police were on both ends, but it appears they are allowing protesters to walk off peacefully.

In New York, protesters and police faced off tonight in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.

The demonstrations had been largely peaceful throughout the day, but tensions rose toward the evening, as the 8 p.m. curfew came and went, and looters began targeting stores in Manhattan.

"Looters and came and busted through the store glass," said CNN Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz at the scene. "I saw them running out with bottles of wine ... They have been using rocks in some cases to break the glass."

He added that the group of looters had joined in with another group of peaceful protesters, which then led to a confrontation with police in Chelsea.

"There were at least two or three arrests there. They were holding four individuals with their hands on the car," Prokupecz said.

"It looks like (police) also used pepper spray. We can kind of sense it in our eyes, and you can kind of smell it. Then one of the males they arrested, he was asking for milk for his eyes, which supposedly helps. He was feeling pain."

The National Guard in Washington, DC, is now investigating the actions of their helicopters on Monday night, it said.

Late Monday night, helicopters were seen doing slow, low-level passes over crowds, and hovering in what appeared to be attempts to disperse the protesters.

Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Chris Mitchell told CNN on Tuesday that the UH-72 aircraft had been flying to "provide observation of DC National Guard positions as they conducted civil unrest operations," and had not been dispatched as part of law enforcement operations.

In New York City, the Manhattan Bridge is full of protesters -- and they're boxed in, with police waiting on both ends of the bridge.

The protesters on the bridge had splintered off from a larger group that had been demonstrating in Brooklyn earlier in the day, said CNN National Correspondent Jason Carroll. The splinter group tried to make their way to Manhattan -- when they were stopped on the Manhattan Bridge.

Some are now trying to turn back and head back into Brooklyn, but they may not be able to -- there are a number of police officers around the bridge, waiting on both ends, some seen with the white zip ties used to detain protesters.

He pointed to a large bus seen near the bridge. "If they've (police) got to make arrests, they are prepared. They've got the bus here. They've got a number of officers with zip ties, so if they are going to be making arrests, they are prepared to do just that."

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In reaction to the thousands of protestors gathered in front of his residence, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he wants them to know he can hear them loud and clear.

While thanking police officers for their hard work, he said that looting is decreasing in the city and that it has been dealt with pretty swiftly.

1,000 members of the National Guard are on the streets of Los Angeles, he said.

"We will go after folks who break into businesses. We will go after people who are looting or causing violence against demonstrators or police officers," he said. "I look forward to the day when we get rid of a curfew, when we don’t have the National Guard, when our police officers don’t have helmets on."

A curfew is in effect for the city and county of Los Angeles for a third night, effective from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time. Mayor Garcetti said he will make a day-to-day decision on extending the curfew.

Many protesters in Washington, DC, are peacefully walking away from Lafayette Square, heading north to the DuPont neighborhood.

A rolling police department bike squad is slowly following them as they move up the streets, away from the White House.

It has been a more peaceful, quiet night than the previous few, after scenes of tear gas and police clashes with protesters in the Lafayette Square area this week.

The curfew in DC went into effect at 7 p.m. local time. It's now past 10:30 p.m.

Facebook said on Tuesday that it had shut down pages and accounts associated with what it said was a hate group, whose members were discussing bringing weapons to the George Floyd protests.

The platform said it had observed people associated with the group American Guard discussing such action. 

The group says it is about American constitutional nationalism, but the Anti-Defamation League says American Guard "has a background with connections to anti-immigrant extremism, hatred, and violence."

According to the Anti-Defamation League, American Guard had once been "the Indiana chapter of a group called the Soldiers of Odin USA, a branch of an extreme anti-immigrant and anti-refugee group that originated in Finland in 2015 and has spread to many other countries." 

Facebook removal: Facebook said it had also taken down accounts linked to the far-right group the Proud Boys, though it said it had not seen posts from that group discussing weaponry.  

The company said it had been planning on taking action against both groups, but had expedited the process when they saw how the groups were discussing the protests. 

Facebook staff told CNN on Tuesday that the company would take action on people using the platform to organize violence regardless of their political affiliation.