As police station burns, officer charged with victim’s murder

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 knelt on his neck.

And last night it was revealed the officer involved had been charged with murder.

A city police spokesman confirmed that staff had evacuated the 3rd Precinct station, the focus of many of the protests, “in the interest of the safety of our personnel”.

Live-streamed 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.

The officer who was seen on video kneeling on the neck of Mr Floyd has been arrested.

Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said state investigators arrested Derek Chauvin, who was one of four officers fired this week, but he did not provide details. News of the arrest came moments after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz acknowledged the “abject failure” of the response to this week’s protests and called for swift justice for officers involved.

Mr Walz said the state would take over the response to the protests and that it is time to show respect and dignity to those who are suffering.

“Minneapolis and St Paul are on fire. The fire is still smouldering in our streets. The ashes are symbolic of decades and generations of pain, of anguish unheard,” Mr Walz said.

“Now generations of pain is manifesting itself in front of the world - and the world is watching.”

The governor faced tough questions after National Guard leader Major General Jon Jensen blamed a lack of clarity about the Guard’s mission for a slow response.

Yesterday morning, nearly every building in the shopping district around the abandoned police station had been vandalised, burned or looted. National Guard members were in the area, with several of them lined up, keeping people away from the police station. Dozens of fires were also set in nearby St Paul, where nearly 200 businesses were damaged or looted.

Protests spread across the US, fuelled by outrage over Mr Floyd’s death, and years of violence against African Americans at the hands of police.

Demonstrators clashed with officers in New York and blocked traffic in Columbus, Ohio, and Denver.

The Minnesota State Patrol arrested a CNN television crew early yesterday as the journalists reported on the unrest. While live on air, CNN reporter Omar Jimenez was handcuffed and led away. A producer and a photojournalist for CNN were also taken away in handcuffs.

Protests first erupted on Tuesday, a day after Mr Floyd’s death in a confrontation with police captured on widely seen citizen video.

In the footage, Mr Floyd can be seen pleading as officer Chauvin presses his knee against him. As minutes pass, Floyd slowly stops talking and moving.

The US attorney’s office and the FBI are investigating.