Angry americans protests for second night over police killing of black man

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Demonstrators gathered on Wednesday for a second night of protests in the US over the killing of a handcuffed black man by a policeman who held him to the ground with a knee on has neck.

As dusk fell police formed a human barricade around the Third Precinct in Minneapolis, where the officers accused of killing George Floyd worked before they were fired on Tuesday.

They pushed protesters back as the crowd grew, a day after police fired rubber bullets and tear gas on thousands of demonstrators angered by the latest seemingly needless African American death at the hands of US law enforcement.

Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo cautioned protestors to remain peaceful.

President Donald Trump in a tweet called Floyd’s death “sad and tragic”, as outrage spread across the country over a bystander’s cellphone video of his killing on Monday while in the custody of four white police officers.

All four have been fired, as prosecutors said they had called in the FBI to help investigate the case, which could involve a federal felony civil rights violation.

“I would like those officers to be charged with murder, because that’s exactly what they did,” Bridgett Floyd, his sister, said on NBC television.

“They murdered my brother…. They should be in jail for murder.”

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said he could not understand why the officer who held his knee to Floyd’s neck on a Minneapolis street until the 46-year-old restaurant worker went limp has not been arrested.

“Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail? If you had done it, or I had done it, we would be behind bars right now,” Frey said.

“Based on what I saw, the officer who had his knee on the neck of George Floyd should be charged,” he said.

‘I can’t breathe’
The case was seen as the latest example of police brutality against African Americans, which gave rise six years ago to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Floyd had been detained on a minor charge of allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill to make a purchase at a convenience store.

In the video, policemen hold him to the ground while one presses his knee to Floyd’s neck.

“Your knee in my neck. I can’t breathe…. Mama. Mama,” Floyd pleaded.

He grew silent and motionless, unable to move even as the officers told him to “get up and get in the car.”

He was taken to hospital where he was later declared dead.