4 protesters held in Brussels violence

BRUSSELS — Four people, including two minors, remained in custody Thursday after a Brussels demonstration over the weekend death of a young Black man detained by police turned violent, the prosecutor’s office said.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said three of the people held were suspected of arson. The fourth has been accused of rebellion after the Wednesday demonstration, when police made more than 100 arrests.

Police said most of the violence took place after the largely peaceful demonstration by about 500 people — some holding Black Lives Matter signs — ended in downtown Brussels.

According to a police statement, 50 to 100 people remained on the spot and threw projectiles, set fires, damaged street furniture and police vehicles. They also smashed a window and a door at a police station. Several officers were injured, the statement said.

In all, 116 people were arrested, including 30 minors, and paramedics treated one civilian, police said.

Belgian prosecutors have requested that an investigative judge be appointed after the death of the 23-year-old Black man identified by authorities only as I.B. The prosecutor’s office said he was arrested on Saturday after he tried to run away from police who were checking people assembled in the city center despite pandemic restrictions on social gatherings.

He was taken to a police station where he fainted, and then transferred to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the office said.