Protesters loot and set fire to Minneapolis stores

Protesters loot and set fire to Minneapolis stores

Hundreds of protesters defied an 8 p.m.

Curfew on Friday in Minneapolis for a fourth night of protests over the police-involved death earlier this week of George Floyd, an unarmed black man.

Graphic video footage of his death shows Floyd gasping for air and pleading for help as he repeatedly groaned, "please, I can't breathe," while a crowd of anguished bystanders shouted at police to let the man up.

The white former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin shown in video footage using his knee to pin Floyd's neck to the street was charged with murder on Friday in his death.

The charges brought by Hennepin County prosecutors came after a third night of arson, looting and vandalism in Minnesota's largest city that saw protesters set fire to a police station and the National Guard deployed to help restore order.

Authorities had hoped Chauvin's arrest would allay public anger and avert continued unrest.

But some protesters clashed with riot police and others burned cars and looted stores.