A demonstrator confronts police officers during a protest against the shooting of 27-year-old Walter Wallace.
Protests began nearly immediately after the news broke, with some instances of rioting as well as violence between demonstrators and the police.
In the final days of the presidential election, the two leading candidates in the race, President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, have both focused most heavily on condemning any violence and looting as part of demonstrations against police brutality.
Speaking at an event in Paradise, Nev., on Wednesday, Trump, a Republican, downplayed his moral opinion on the shooting itself, instead focusing his attention on the protests, which he said were the result of soft leadership from Democrats on the city and state level.
You've got to have respect for our police," he said, trotting out his long-favored talking point of a police system crippled by Democrat inaction.
Biden, the Democratic nominee, on Wednesday said that he would set up a commission to better deal with how police interact with people dealing with mental health issues, but he forcefully condemned any violence and looting during the protests.
Wallace's death comes following a summer pockmarked by police shootings and nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality.
Both Trump and Biden have carved out stances on the matter, with Trump focusing his appeals to law enforcement and maintaining "law and order," while Biden has acknowledged systemic racism in the United States and vowed if elected to more closely examine how to repair relationships between police and minority communities.
The Democrats have spent the entire year inciting violence, and hatred, and hatred against our police — our police.
Without our police, we have very little," Trump said, adopting a familiar dark, less nuanced tone with his supporters.
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