Police officers in riot gear clashed with a crowd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following the death of a black man who was in police custody. Hundreds of people gathered near the intersection where George Floyd died at the hands of police.

On Monday (May 25), officers tried to take Floyd into custody after responding to a report of a suspected forgery at a nearby business. Authorities said that Floyd resisted arrest and the officers took him to the ground. One of the officers put his knee on Floyd's neck and pinned him down.

Floyd pleaded for help, telling the officer he couldn't breathe and was in pain. The officers ignored his pleas, even after it was pointed out that he was bleeding. At some point during the arrest, Floyd lost consciousness and the officers called for medical attention. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

After a video of the arrest went viral, the four officers involved were fired. The news of firing didn't dissuade protesters from taking the streets to demand justice for Floyd's death. His family has called for the arrest of the officers.

"I would like for those officers to be charged with murder because that's exactly what they did. They murdered my brother; he was crying for help," Bridgett Floyd said on the TODAY show.

The demonstration started out peacefully, but as the protesters made a two-and-half mile march to the police station, some people in the crowd started breaking windows and spray-painting graffiti. As the protesters neared the police station, officers in riot gear confronted them and fired tear gas and rubber bullets in an attempt to get them to disperse.

Some of the protesters fled to a nearby Target, where they created a barricade with shopping carts, forcing the store to close.

Police said there was a shooting at a building near where Floyd was killed, and one person suffered non-life threatening injuries, but officials were unsure if it was related to the protest.

Photo: Getty Images

Politics

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