Summary: <p>Washington (AFP) - Protesters defied curfews across the United States as leaders scrambled to stem anger over police racism while President Donald Trump rejected criticism over his use of force to break up a peaceful rally.</p> <p>Standoffs between police and demonstrators stretched into the night in cities from New York to Los Angeles over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man whose killing has brought once-in-a-generation protests to the nation for the past week.</p> <p>But there were fewer reports of the looting and violence that had soured street demonstrations in previous nights.</p> <p>Tens of thousands gathered earlier Tuesday in Houston to pay a hometown tribute to Floyd, who grew up in the Texas city and is to be buried there next week.</p> <p>"Today is... about George Floyd's family -- we want them to know that George did not die in vain," Mayor Sylvester Turner told an estimated 60,000 people.</p> <p>A tearful Roxie Washington, the mother of Floyd's six-year-old daughter, told a news conference she wanted "justice for him because he was good.</p> <p>"No matter what anybody thinks, he was good."</p> <p>In New York, which on Tuesday prolonged its first curfew since World War II for the full week, AFP reporters saw hundreds refusing to go home after the 8:00 pm cutoff, instead chanting slogans and peacefully walking the streets in Manhattan and Brooklyn.</p> <p>Hours after the curfew, mayor Bill de Blasio said it was a "very calm situation," a day after several Manhattan luxury stores were looted.</p> <p>"So far, the curfew is certainly helping, based on everything I've seen in Brooklyn and Manhattan over the last three hours," he tweeted.</p> <p>Minnesota took one of the first concrete actions to address the grievances behind the uprising, which began after Floyd's death on May 25 in the state's largest city Minneapolis.</p> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://anchor.fm/bj-murphy9/support" rel="payment">https://anchor.fm/bj-murphy9/support</a>
