US protests turn violent
New York (AFP) - Police clashed with protesters in California on the fourth night of demonstrations across the United States against recent killings of African American suspects by white police in the United States.
Protesters in Berkeley, California, threw bricks, rocks and pipes at police, who fired tear gas and smoke canisters to quell the crowds.
Several officers were injured, and buildings and cars were vandalized or looted, said police spokeswoman Jennifer Coats.
"Several splinter groups broke off and began hurling bricks, pipe, smoke grenades, and other missiles at officers," Coats told AFP.
"Numerous officers were struck, and one officer was struck with a large sandbag and treated at a local hospital for a dislocated shoulder," she said.
The angry demonstration took place hours after mourners gathered at the New York funeral of an unarmed black man shot dead by police in New York on November 20.
Akai Gurley, 28, father of a two-year-old daughter, was killed when a police officer opened fire in a dimly lit staircase at a Brooklyn apartment building where he was walking with his girlfriend.
Friends and relatives filed past Gurley's open gray casket to pay their respects at the Brown Memorial Baptist Church, before the lid was closed and a huge spray of red and white flowers was placed on top of it.
Gurley, whose mother lived in Florida, had been planning a surprise Thanksgiving trip to introduce her to his daughter last month when he was killed.
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