National Guard Is 'On Standby' For NYC Amid Protests, Cuomo Says

NEW YORK, NY — Thirteen thousand National Guard officers are "on standby" if New York City police need help dealing with police brutality protests, which grew increasingly violent over the weekend, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.

The governor said he has told officials in all New York towns and cities, including New York City, that the National Guard is ready to step in should their police need help with protests that have broken out following the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd.

Cuomo plans to speak with Mayor Bill de Blasio about how to deal with the protests and the possibility of a curfew on Monday, though he added that there doesn't seem to be a "manpower issue" in New York City as there has been in other cities using the National Guard.

So far, about two dozen cities have put a curfew in place and 16 have called in the National Guard as looting and clashes between police and protesters rage across the country.

"New York City should have enough personnel with the NYPD," Cuomo said. "I don’t know if it’s a manpower, person-power issue but if it is we have the National Guard."

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Cuomo said Monday any measures taken will be to address the "unacceptable" level of violence the protests reached over the weekend.

"Obviously last night was not good, so what can we do differently? What can we do better?" he said.

He pointed to large-scale looting — which he said likely isn't by protesters, but by those "exploiting the situation" — as well as videos showing NYPD officers using violent tactics to deal with the gatherings.

Incidents where NYPD officers drove into a crowd and an officer who drew his gun at a Union Square protest are both being investigated, de Blasio said Monday.

Focused mainly on Lower Manhattan, particularly Soho, looters targeted largely luxury stores including Chanel, Bloomingdales and Gucci, cops said. NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea estimated more than 400 people were arrested overnight Sunday alone.

New York City has so far avoided a curfew as thousands of people have taken to streets across the five boroughs in what were overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations.