Pentagon Orders Military Police Battalion To Leave US Capital - Spokesperson

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th June, 2020) The Pentagon will send back some active-duty troops who were called to the capital of Washington in response to protests over the police killing of George Floyd, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense told Sputnik on Friday.

"Per Secretary of the Army, the 91st Military Police Battalion is being redeployed to Fort Drum," the spokesperson said.

The battalion based in Fort Drum in upstate New York was called to the capital to respond to violence that erupted at protests over the killing of Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25.

On Thursday evening, Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a letter to US President Donald Trump asking him to withdraw all extraordinary Federal law enforcement and military personnel temporarily deployed to the US capital to protect the city from riots.

A video of Floyd's arrest posted online showed a white police officer pressing on his neck for almost nine minutes as the detainee was kept handcuffed repeatedly saying he could not breathe. Floyd died shortly thereafter.