Attorney General Barr ordered authorities to clear protesters near White House, DOJ official says

Attorney General William Barr on Monday evening ordered authorities to clear a crowd of protesters that had gathered near the White House, according to a Justice Department official, minutes ahead of President Donald Trump's televised address from the Rose Garden.

Barr and other top officials from agencies responsible for securing the White House had previously planned to secure a wider perimeter around Lafayette Square, a federally owned green space just north of the building, in response to fires and destruction caused by protestors on Sunday night.

That plan, developed earlier Monday, would have cleared the area later used for the President's walk to the nearby St. John's Episcopal Church for a photo-op by 4 p.m. ET, the official said.

But it never happened. When Barr arrived at Lafayette Square just after 6 p.m. in a scene that was captured on news cameras and elicited heckles from the large, peaceful crowd, the attorney general saw that the area had not been emptied, and told police to clear the area, the official said.

St. Paul Police officers seen kneeling in solidarity with protesters at Governor's Mansion

A group of St. Paul Police Officers and at least one State Patrol deputy were seen kneeling in solidarity with peaceful protesters outside the Governor's Mansion Monday afternoon.

St. Paul Police closed Summit Avenue to accomodate the protest which the department said was peaceful. During the protest, those gathered kneeled down together, symbolizing the actions of a Minneapolis Police officer who was seen kneeling on the neck of George Floyd before he was pronounced dead.

The St. Paul and State Patrol officers at the protest were seen joining the crowd in the symbolic kneel.

Police say more than 2,000 people joined the protest Monday afternoon.

George Floyd's manner of death considered a homicide, medical examiner says

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner released the official cause of death to George Floyd on Monday. 

According to the medical examiner, the official cause of death is stated as "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression." The manner of death is homicide, a term the medical examiner uses to describe any death caused by the intentional actions of another person or persons.

The report goes on to note Floyd experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by Minneapolis Police Department. Floyd also had significant conditions noted by the medical examiner, such as hypertensive heart disease, fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use.