US pondering how to restore peace

A curfew was announced on Monday at an unusually early 7 pm, four hours earlier than the one imposed on the previous night, when protests turned violent.

Graffiti was painted on structures including the Treasury Department building and monuments in the city center, and numerous fires flared just blocks from the White House, where police confronted protesters at the gates.

The windows of a CVS pharmacy on Connecticut Avenue Northwest were boarded up Monday, as the owner sought to protect it from rioters. That store had been open even when the coronavirus outbreak was at its peak in the city several weeks ago.

Workers with construction helmets were also covering the windows and entrance with plywood at shops across from the National Press Building, which is about a five-minute walk from the White House.

Such wooden barricades erected earlier have become canvases for spray-painted messages such as BLM ("black lives matter") and "I can't breathe".