Secretary of Defense Esper unexpectedly reversed the decision to deploy several hundred soldiers to the Washington metropolitan area to respond to the protests.

Secretary Mark Esper announces that he will stop deploying a combat battalion to Washington D.C.

McCarthy said he received orders to send troops from the 82nd Airborne Division's quick response battalion to the base, hours after the Pentagon informed Minister Esper of the decision.

The decision to stop sending troops to Washington was made while Pentagon leaders continued to insist they did not want to deploy regular troops to take part in the protest.

"The military should only be used in the United States in the most urgent and serious situations. We are not currently in one of those situations," said Esper.

"We have no intention of mobilizing the army at this time. We do not think it is necessary for them at this time," said Army Secretary McCarthy, but insisted that caution and maintenance of the situation were in place.

The soldiers of the 82nd brigade were the first units to withdraw, and they would leave Andrew Air Base, more than 20 km from the White House, to return to Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

"I can't breathe" protests erupted in many American cities to protest the death of police officer George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The last military unit in Washington, DC, to remain on standby is the 3rd infantry regiment. This is the unit that deploys the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown in the Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.