By The Associated Press
The protesters raged through the night, invoking the name of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a White police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air.
Some held up signs with Floyd’s last words: “I can’t breathe.” Graffiti on city walls called police murderers. In a highly symbolic image, a protester carried a U.S. flag upside down, a sign of distress.
Protestors demonstrate outside of a burning Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody Monday, broke out in Minneapolis for a third straight night. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Among May 28 casualties was a Minneapolis police station that demonstrators torched after the department abandoned it. Some protesters doused their faces with milk after being exposed to tear gas from police. Others set off fireworks as fires burned in the background. Looting was rampant.
It was the third night of violent protests after Floyd died in a confrontation with officers outside a grocery store.
Fires continued to burn May 29 in Minneapolis and nearby St. Paul, and National Guard members were being stationed in locations to help stem looting.
A protester carries the carries a U.S. flag upside, a sign of distress, next to a burning building Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody Monday, broke out in Minneapolis for a third straight night. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Under fire from President Donald Trump, who criticized the city’s mostly hands-off approach with protesters, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey defended the policy and said it was his decision to evacuate the police precinct because officers were at risk.
Meanwhile, demonstrations erupted in other states across the nation including New Mexico, California, Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Mississippi and elsewhere.