Effectively under lockdown overnight tonight, follows three straight nights of anguished and increasingly violent protests during which local authorities have struggled to maintain any semblance of control. It also comes on the same day that both murder and manslaughter charges were announced against the Police Officer who was seen kneeling on the neck of george floyd. 46yearold unarmed black man, father of two, who died after repeatedly pleading for his life from that officer and that officers colleagues on the scene. He was saying explicitly he could not breathe. Again, the officer seen kneeling on mr. Floyds neck has been charged with murder and launs today. He is in custody. He has been arrested. State and local authorities are apparently hoping that by imposing this mandatory curfew, a fairly drastic measure tonight, i think theyre hoping they will be able to lower the collective Blood Pressure in minneapolis and in the minnesota neighboring city, capital of saint paul. We have learned late tonight, a number of neighboring cities and counties around the smans and st. Paul proper have also instituted curfews along the same lines as what were seeing in the twin cities tonight so it will that whole region of the state under what is effectively a very strict stayathome order tonight. As i say those curfews went into effect just moments ago, about two minutes ago, at the top of the hour, 9 00 p. M. Eastern, 8 00 p. M. Local time. The curfew extends from now until 6 00 a. M. Local time tomorrow morning. Both st. Paul and minneapolis and as i mentioned again, surrounding counties and towns, have announced that this curfew will be in effect tonight, again 8 00 p. M. Local time, 6 00 a. M. Tomorrow morning, and we believe in minneapolis and st. Paul that will be in effect again tomorrow night, same time, same restrictions. According to the public orders that detail the terms of the curfew, while its in effect, people are banned from traveling on public streets or gathering in public places. The exemptions are people traveling to and from work during those hours. First responders, members of the media, people fleeing danger, or seeking urgent care, also people who are homeless and therefore have nowhere to go, they are exempt from the order, too, but otherwise, nobody is supposed to be out on the streets as of now. Violations of the curfew are punishable by 90 days in jail or a 1,000 fine but it now becomes an acute and present question as to how this curfew will be enforced. Earlier tonight, minnesotas governor, tim pa, tim walz expad on the hour saying peace officers will be allowed to arrest those who do not come fly ply with the order, and it looks at who is enforcing the curfew and how they will do so. There are a number of different authorities on the ground and into the course of today and tonight, including the National Guard, out on the streets now. National guard interestingly put out public guidance today, reminding the public that theyre distinguishable from local Law Enforcement. You can tell theyre National Guard and not local police because theyre wearing military camouflage fatigues but because they wear u. S. Army and air force patches and guardsmen and guards women have the u. S. Flag on their sleeve. In a city burning with rage over the actions of the local police force, a different armed force on the street amid all of those protesters, wants to be sure people know that theyre not the cops who people are so mad at right now. The National Guard is not supposed to be used to arrest people in the streets tonight. They are charged specifically with protecting the State Capitol building, should protests devolve there in st. Paul. They are providing security for two different Law Enforcement buildings in st. Paul so officers can basically stay on the job of the National Guard is tasked with escorting Fire Department personnel. So the Fire Department can respond to fires and other emergencies throughout the area, firefighters have been attacked when they have turned up to put out some of the many, many building fires that have been set in both minneapolis and st. Paul. Earlier today, as i mentioned, the Hennepin CountyDistrict Attorney announced that the officer seen pinning george floyd to the ground with his knee, that officer has been charged. Third degree murder and Second Degree manslaughter are the charges. Those charges hold maximum penalties of 25 years and ten years in prison respectively. The criminal complaint released along with the charges shows that the officer or alleges that the officer had his knee on George Floyds neck for close to nine minutes. Eight minutes and 46 seconds. According to the complaint, the officer allegedly held that position for nearly three minutes after mr. Floyd became unresponsive and stopped moving. Even after one of the other officers on the scene reportedly, allegedly, felt George Floyds wrist for a pulse, and found none. Nevertheless, the officer who was charged today, according to the criminal complaint, kept his knee on floyds fleck for more than two minutes after that time. After they found that he did not have a pulse. County attorney who brought these charges today says the other three officers involved in the arrest are still under investigation. And that charges against them are anticipated as well. Todays charges against the officer at the lead of this arrest comes less than 24 hours after that same county Attorneys Office said they needed more time to build their case, to make sure that these charges were warranted. That announcement, the failure to charge yesterday, seemed to provide accelerant to the protest last night in the twin cities, that are now spreading throughout the country, it means we really dont know what to expect tonight in the twin cities but again, a mandatory curfew is in effect in minneapolis and st. Paul and the surrounding counties and towns. I want to go to my friend and colleague ali velshi who was with us last night when things turned very ugly in the Third Police Precinct and narrated through that as officers through flash grenades and tear gas. There is tear gas deployed. The police has spent the entire day cordening off this area. Putting the barriers in place. And they have now been pushed all the way back here. You can see the crowd, constantly running back. And then pushing forward again. There are people moving forward in this crowd, rachel. Without gas protection. I got to tell you, just to be able to breathe, a little bit of the gas gets in your skin, there are people there, they are exposed to tear gas. We dont know what the end game is here. At about ten minutes before the curfew, there are announcements that said you are in violation of your right to assemble, and unlawful violation and will be arrested and Police Walked back together. And now, they are completely disengaged. And they have gone back toward the overpass. This is the Police Station that was taken last night. The police put barricades in front of it. Put the fence back up. And now it is all gone again. Theyre back, the protesters are now here again, the police are flashing red lights and you can see the tear gas in the air right now. So were not sure what theyre planning to do. This is a standoff now. The crowd has become much, much bigger over the last 90 minutes and we now have the National Guard and the Police Working together firing tear gas canisters which are still hot to the touch into the crowd. Rachel . Ali, you can tell us anything about how the National Guard and police are working together . Are they a totally integrated force . Are they separate . And what kind of numbers are you able to see them out there on the streets tonight . So, there are no Minneapolis Police in front of us. Only state police. Some other Police Forces and the National Guard. Typically the National Guard has been at the sides and to the back, but in the last hour, as protesters started to approach the police, and integrated their lines, the National Guard closed ranks with them and filled in the spaces in between. But the crowd has been sent the message. They will not disburse. And they didnt wait until 8 00 local time, 9 00 p. M. Eastern. It was about ten minutes before that. Theyre firing the tear gas began and the police and the National Guard retreated. We dont know where theyre going. We dont know what is happening here. Were trying to be as close to it, and not being in the middle of it too much but people are not being deterred, rachel. They are walking toward steer gas rig, tear gas last night. Which last night they were deterred by. So something has happened. The crowd keeps on going and we can turn around and see people behind us, hundreds of people streaming toward us. So what looked like a situation that the authorities had tried to get under control, for much of the day, allowing firefighters in to put out the fires, that ended. And look at this, rachel, its not, its not a protest, its a march, its a slow march. And were not seeing any violence right now. But theyre walking backward, then they go toward the authorities. And that round of tear gas, is basically at the line there. Behind that, are the National Guard and the police, on the other side of the protesters, rachel. Ali, let me ask you, are the police and the National Guard, as they are there, are they defending a position, or are they trying to prevent marchers from going to a specific place . Or is this essentially them trying to create a perimeter to encircle the protesters . We had the perimeter all day. They had managed, it seemed like the perimeter was around the Police Station, keep everybody two or three blocks away from it because that this is the center of activity for several days, this is the Police Station, in which those Police Officers involved in George Floyds death were based. That, i dont know what the objective is now. The point was, that they had a curfew, and it was 9 00 p. M. Eastern. At which time you were not going to be out and you were going to be arrested. It is not clear what is happening. Something has developed over here. It is not clear what is manying. We were surprised to the National Guard and the police, completely retreat. And walk backward entirely. It is not clear what theyre defending at this point. It does seem clear that the strategic decision was made yesterday, it has carried on to today, that police and the National Guard are not engaging with the protesters. And the protesters are giving out wooden shields to people to defend themselves against the police but we have seen no interaction between protesters and Police Despite a lot of taunting and annual tation agitation and hos stilt today, there is no direct contact. At the moment, no direct contact. But the protesters seem to be moving forward. You can hear the loud speaker. Just listen to that. Saying youre in violation. And you will be arrested. But there is no apparent arrests being made right now. You can see the tear gas becoming quite thick. Without a gas mask, this is very hard to exist in. That is what the police are hoping, that the gas will stop people. Let me ask you, ali, i want to give you a chance to catch your breath and get your bearings in terms of your crew but one other thing before i let you do that is over the past three years, what weve been describing and able to describe, is big peaceful protests, that didnt seem like they were heading toward violence, every day, on tuesday night, on wednesday nice, on thursday night, and until usually late at night, usually after dark, something clicked and things got much more confrontational. Im getting a different vibe from watching you right now in terms of how confrontational it is already and it doesnt feel like it is shifting from one type of protest to another. Thats my view from here. But whats your sense on the ground . Look, there has been certainly some of that, most of the day, it was protests, speeches, and animosity between the police and the protests, and in the last hour or so, it has changed. People are talking about tactics, about how they can stand together, should the police, what to do, what not to do, they are handing out milk jugs, which people believe pouring on your face after tear gas will help mitigate the effects. There is definitely a sense over the last hour or so, this is going to be confrontational. And weve got masks to protect ourselves. But if i took this off for ten seconds, it would be burning my eyes and my throat. And thats what youre seeing a lot of the protesters are withstanding and Walking Around with milk cans. And these wooden shields. And people are not moving away, and you can see people are streaming in this direction again because of the heavy crowd of tear gas. And unlike last night, there is very little wind here so this tear gas is hanging here and people are having to move away in order to get out of it. And now as the Police Continue to use more and more and as that gets thicker and thicker, that may make it a more hostile event to keep standing there especially with cloth masks. Ali, we will be checking in with you tonight. On the scene in minneapolis. What he is describing in terms of the use of tear gas, obviously, we can, there is not smoke, this is tear gas deployed by the police per alis reporting, and for that duration of the time that we were talking about it, we saw a lot of people, while the tear gas was lighter, moving in that area, with either just cloth masks on or no masks on, and now, it does seem to be having the effect that the police were trying to create, which was to render that part of the street as a place where people cant stand and cant stay. Again, within the last 15 minutes, minneapolis st. Paul, surrounding towns and counties, have gone into what is supposed to a legally binding curfew, where nobody is supposed be on the street. Between 8 00 p. M. Local time and 6 00 a. M. , local time tomorrow. There are obviously still a lot of people out on the street. Joining us now is Angela Conley, she serves as a member of the Hennepin County board of commissioners. Shy tell you she was the first africanamerican commissioner ever elected to that board. She represents the neighborhood where george floyd was killed. She also lives just five blocks away from the place that he was killed specifically. Commissioner, it is an honor to have you with us tonight. Thank you for taking the time. Thank you so much for having me. Let me just ask you about the immediate situation right now, were about 15 or 16 minutes into what is supposed to be a curfew on the streets of the twin cities tonight. Obviously, a lot of protesters are still out, and still very fired up. And seeming to be showing no intention of leaving. Whats your reaction, your feeling about the curfew tonight and your expectations for the enforcement of that, and what that might mean over the course of these next few hours . Well, i think the first thing that is on my mind is whether this is going to lead to mass arrests. And what we dont need is hundreds of people being arrested, being shot at, because of the force that we see out there right now, with the National Guard and the state patrol. What im also concerned about is that on the corner of 38th and chicago, five blocks from my front door, where george floyd was murdered, we have people who have been holding that space, it is a sacred space right now, and have been holding that intersection down. These are people who are peaceful. Who are there to pray. Who are there to contribute to his memorial. And to sing and to feed people who come by. So there is a lot of Community Building that is happening throughout the city, aside from what were seeing right now, that i want to see protected. Overnight, all week, 24 hours, people have been protecting this space on 38th and chicago. And i dont want that to be disrupted either. I dont want to see those people face a Police Presence. Because so far, there hasnt been a Police Presence on that corner. And that corner is very significant to our community right now, and we want to keep it safe. We want to keep it that way. Let me ask, as the county commissioner who represents the part of the city where that has happened, has there been any, have you been able to try to negotiate or open any sort of dialogue about carving out that space, as you described it, that sacred space, as an exemption from the curfew, or at least coming to some accommodation about perhaps allowing people to stay there, in the kind of environment that you were just describing, peaceful environment that you were just describing, even as every place else is locked down with the curfew. Right. You know, im not expecting any special treatment. I have just got off the phone with mayor frey before, before this segment here, and my ask with that, there are people who are peacefully demonstrating, peacefully expressing their grievances, with their government, as protected, and its not, you know, its not violent. Its not aggressive. This is people showing love for each other. And that intersection, five blocks away, with ive been, all week long, is not a threat to the city of minneapolis, its not a threat to armed forces. Its no