The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Protesters torch US police station
Unrest follows death of handcuffed man
Demonstrators have torched a Minneapolis police station as three days of violent protests spread over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer kneeled on his neck.
A police spokesman confirmed staff had evacuated the 3rd Precinct station, the focus of many of the protests.
Video showed the protesters then entering the building, where fire alarms blared and sprinklers ran as fires were started.
US president Donald Trump later blasted the “total lack of leadership” in Minneapolis. He wrote on Twitter: “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him the military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
A visibly tired and frustrated Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey made his first public appearance of the night at City Hall at around 2am and took responsibility for evacuating the precinct.
As Mr Frey continued, a reporter cut across loudly with a question: “What’s the plan here?”
“With regard to?” Mr Frey responded.
Then he added: “There is a lot of pain and anger right now in our city. I understand that...What we have seen over the past several hours and past couple of nights here in terms of looting is unacceptable.”
Protests first erupted on Tuesday, a day after Mr Floyd’s death in a confrontation with police which was captured on a widely seen video.
On the footage, Mr Floyd can be seen pleading as Officer Derek Chauvin presses his knee against him.
As minutes pass, Mr Floyd slowly stops talking and moving. The 3rd Precinct covers the portion of south Minneapolis where Mr Floyd was arrested.
Governor Walz earlier activated the US National Guard at the Minneapolis mayor’s request, but it was not immediately clear when and where the Guard was being deployed, and none could be seen during protests in Minneapolis or neighbouring St Paul.