George Floyd: Scenes from protests in Minneapolis and around the U.S.

The fury over the death of an unarmed Black man in Minneapolis has thrust the city and other American cities into a state of upheaval and anger.

The protests centre around the death of George Floyd.

The four officers involved in his arrest were dismissed Tuesday, but that did not stifle the countrywide outrage and unrest over his death.

The epicentre of the protests so far has been the 3rd Precinct station in Minneapolis.

Police officers positioned on the roof of the building used tear gas and rubber bullets to try and keep the crowds away, but eventually, the protesters attacked the building, setting it on fire.

At the mayor’s request, the police officers retreated from the station, as he said it was too dangerous for them to stay there.

The owner of a local restaurant that caught fire and was damaged in Thursday night’s outrage offered support for the protesters on Facebook.

The owner of Gandhi Mahal, a (very delicious) local restaurant in South Minneapolis that was damaged in the fires last night: "Let my building burn, justice needs to be served." pic.twitter.com/hM1qt4tGEx.

The protesters who got inside the police station, their faces covered, ransacked rooms through a haze of smoke, setting off sprinklers and fire alarms.

Since the outrage ballooned in Minneapolis on Tuesday, solidarity protests have sprung up across the United States.

In Denver, protests erupted on Thursday with protesters blocking freeway traffic and coming face to face with police officers.

On Friday, Minnesota’s governor called for an end to the violent protests.

He said he expects “swift” and “timely” justice for the officers involved in Floyd’s arrest.

President Trump threatened to take action against the city of Minneapolis on Friday as the smoke from Thursday’s nights riot began to clear.

In a tweet, Trump called the protesters “thugs” who are “dishonouring the memory of George Floyd.”.

He said that he spoke with Walz about the situation and offered military help, but suggested that if things did not get brought under control, further action could be taken.

In another tweet on Friday, Trump repeated that “looting leads to shooting.” Trump defended the earlier Twitter post, saying it was “spoken as a fact, not as a statement.”.

He said that he spoke with the family of Floyd recently, adding that now was “no time for incendiary tweets

At a White House event on Friday, Trump said he had spoken with Floyd’s family

According to Reuters, he also said “we can’t allow” the protests in Minneapolis “to descend further into lawless anarchy and chaos.”

He said while many might want to “get back to normal” after the COVID-19 pandemic, mistreatment on account of race is “tragically, painfully, maddeningly ‘normal'” for many in the United States

police, calls for peace amid protests

The cases have attracted national headlines and drawn racially charged protests against police, as well