• Hundreds of people gathered on the streets of Minneapolis on Tuesday at the site where a black man died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
  • George Floyd, 46, died Monday after a white police officer knelt on his neck as Floyd begged the officer to stop and told him he couldn’t breathe.
  • Four officers involved in the incident were fired Tuesday, but protesters demanded criminal charges be filed against them.
  • After what started as a peaceful protest, police officers and protesters began to clash, with some demonstrators throwing rocks and bricks and officers in riot gear deploying tear gas and flash grenades to disperse the remaining crowds.
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Police officers on Tuesday evening clashed with hundreds of demonstrators who were protesting the death of a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.

A video of the encounter went viral, depicting a white police officer holding George Floyd, 46, facedown with a knee on Floyd’s neck on Monday as Floyd begged the police officer to stop and repeatedly said “I can’t breathe.” Floyd later died in a hospital. The four police officers involved were later fired by the department, but protesters argued for criminal charges.

Protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis on Tuesday in response, with many wearing face masks and some carrying signs with messages like “stop killing people for being black,” “Justice for George,” and, reiterating some of his last words, “I can’t breathe.”

The local outlet WCCO reported that the demonstrations started peacefully, with a large number of protesters congregating at the scene where the incident happened before marching to the 3rd Precinct of the Minneapolis Police Department. The outlet said a "much smaller group" began vandalizing the building, however, with the local station KMSP reporting that some people threw rocks. Police officers in riot gear responded by making a barrier around the precinct at 7:30 p.m., WCCO reported.

Some photos and videos of the protests showed people apparently being sprayed with a chemical agent and the deployment of flash grenades in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

A protester posted a photo of what appeared to be a rubber bullet saying they were shot after the conflict between demonstrators and the police began to escalate. An Instagram Live video showed what appeared to be people throwing objects at police cars at the scene. WCCO reported that people were smashing windows with bricks and rocks.

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Representatives from the Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately respond to Business Insider's emails for comment.