Riots erupt across US
WAVES of rage developed into fire and fury across the United States as tensions erupted over the death of George Floyd.
Police in riot gear came under attack, squad cars were torched and stores looted despite official curfews and the National Guard taking to the streets.
Protests broke out in at least 75 cities with demonstrators also reaching theWhite House gates.
In Minneapolis, where Mr Floyd died last Monday after a white officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes, police began taking back control of the battered city.
Nearly 11,000 National Guard soldiers, a Blackhawk helicopter and surveillance drones helped restore order to the streets, which on Saturday witnessed their quietest night for five days. But unrest paralysed other major cities, descending into a night of chaos.
From New York’s Times Square to Los Angeles high-end areas, few areas were left unscathed.
Tens of thousands of people, many under the Black Lives Matter banner, poured onto streets and hundreds were arrested as buildings were set on fire and stores looted.
President Donald Trump’s tonedeaf response to the protests saw clashes between secret service agents and demonstrators outside the White House.
In California, governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard.
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Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti initially resisted doing likewise as he did not want to evoke memories of the 1992 Rodney King riots – but he relented as conditions continued to worsen.
Smoke climbed skyscrapers in New York as police vehicles were torched and shops ransacked while shocking footage emerged of officers violently detaining protesters.
Cars were set on fire in Philadelphia with one officer being run over by looters. Officers in Richmond,Virginia, were hospitalised. At least one person was killed in Indianapolis, where police said that they had so many reports of guns fired that they had lost count.
In Atlanta, where rapper Killer Mike made an emotional plea for calm, an officer suffered “significant injuries” when hit by an off-road vehicle – while in Chicago a man seized a police horse and rode off.
Unrest was also seen in Ferguson, Missouri, which was shaken by violent protests in 2014 after a white officer shot and killed the young black man Michael Brown.
A man armed with a hunting bow pointed the weapon at protesters in Salt Lake City, Utah, only to be left badly beaten when demonstrators turned on him.
Police responded in most areas with tear gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets.
In Denver, protesters lay symboli