In more than 140 American cities this past weekend, protesters blocked traffic and marched, demanding an end to racist police violence and justice for George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin last week. The police greeted the protesters with brutality.

Police shot rubber bullets and tear gas. They used extreme force against journalists, medics, and random bystanders. They rammed their vehicles into crowds, aimed their fire at people on balconies and porches, and shoved and tackled peaceful protestors to the ground. Some police made bigoted remarks to protestors as they confronted them, while others celebrated as they hit their targets with projectiles. The police blinded at least two people and killed at least one.

On Monday, President Trump told governors, “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate . . .  You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again.” But the governors, red and blue alike, didn’t need prodding: four and a half thousand people have been arrested nationwide since the protests began.