The National Guard is “on standby” in New York if needed to help quell chaotic protests over the death of George Floyd, a black Minnesota man, at the hands of white police officer Derek Chauvin, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday.
Though the troops are yet to be deployed, they are waiting in the wings with a fourth-straight night of demonstrations all but certain, Cuomo told reporters in Albany.
“The explosion we saw last night, we’ll probably see it again tonight,” said Cuomo. “I have the National Guard on standby. Any place that needs additional help where the local police can’t handle it, we have National Guard and we have state police.”
State troopers have already been augmenting local forces upstate, Cuomo said, noting that Rochester will receive “200 additional state police” by nightfall.
The governor did not specify how many state police are already in Rochester.
Top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa added that “about 150” troopers will be deployed to Buffalo, and that Syracuse and Albany may also receive reinforcements.
The National Guard will form the next line of defense “if we need more than the state police,” said Cuomo.
National Guard troops have already been deployed in the face of protests in other states, including California and Minnesota.
Asked about the possibility of a statewide curfew, Cuomo did not dismiss it outright, but said that the efficacy of such shutdowns depends on the city.
“There is no one-size-fits-all here,” he said. “Curfews work well in some cities, in some cities they can create additional issues. So that’s a case-by-case basis.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier Sunday said there was “no plan” for a curfew, though NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea indicated that it was at least on the table.
Cuomo said that, under the duress of Saturday night’s mayhem, local governments and police departments held the line.
“It was ugly last night. But from a management point of view, a police officer point of view, a resource point of view, every locality did what they had to do,” he said. “It’s just an ugly situation.”
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