MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rioting in US Twin Cities following the death by police of a handcuffed black man

Minnesota's governor Tim Walz ordered Guard troops to assist police as local, state and federal law enforcement officials sought to ease racial tensions

Authorities in Minneapolis and its sister city St Paul got reinforcements from the National Guard on Thursday as they girded for fresh protests and violence over the shocking police killing of a handcuffed black man.

After stores were looted and burned overnight Wednesday in Minneapolis, officials in the so-called Twin Cities warned they would not tolerate violence while seeking to assure that investigations into George Floyd's death were underway.

Hundreds of people began marching in Minneapolis in the late afternoon, while in St Paul, just to the east, police said there was ongoing looting.

“We know there's a lot of anger. We know there's a lot of hurt,” said St Paul Police Chief Todd Axtel. “But we can't tolerate people using this as an opportunity to commit crimes,” he said.

Minnesota's governor Tim Walz ordered Guard troops to assist police as local, state and federal law enforcement officials sought to ease racial tensions sparked by Monday night's fatal arrest of George Floyd, 46.

Four city police officers involved in the incident, including the one shown pressing his knee into Floyd's neck as he lay on the ground, were fired from their jobs the next day.

At a morning news briefing, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo apologized to Floyd's family, conceding his department had contributed to a “deficit of hope” in Minnesota's largest city even before Floyd's deadly encounter with police.

“I am absolutely sorry for the pain, devastation and the trauma that Mr. Floyd's death has left on his family, his loved ones and our community,” he said.

Floyd's family demanded the officer and three others who were present, all since fired from their jobs, face murder charges. “Justice is these guys need to be arrested, convicted of murder and given the death penalty,” Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, told CNN.

“But people are torn and hurting because they are tired of seeing black men die, constantly, over and over again.”

Hours later, officials overseeing investigations from the US Justice Department, FBI, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and local prosecutors appealed for calm at a joint news conference, as they gathered evidence.

“Give us the time to do this right, and we will bring you justice, I promise you,” Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman told reporters. He acknowledged the policeman's conduct depicted in the video was “horrible”, but said, “My job is to prove that he has violated a criminal statute.”

Freeman said his office had also reached out to veteran civil rights activist Jesse Jackson for help in conveying the message that law enforcement takes the case seriously. Two national African American leaders, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, arrived in Minneapolis and urged more protests.

The Twin cities capped two days of unrest in which riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets clashed with rock-throwing protesters who filled the streets in an outpouring of rage over Floyd's death.

A second night of disturbances on Wednesday, punctuated by looting, vandalism and arson, began hours after Mayor Jacob Frey urged local prosecutors to file criminal charges in the case.