Anger at new US police abuse videos, with more protests set for weekend

Outrage soared in the United States again on Friday over new images of police brutality caught on camera, as demonstrators sought to take mass protests over the killing of an unarmed black man into a second weekend.

With rolling demonstrations over the death last week of George Floyd showing little sign of letting up, arguments raged over the level of force officers were deploying against largely peaceful protesters.

In Buffalo, New York, two cops were suspended without pay after a video showed then pushing over a 75-year-old protester who fell and suffered a head injury.

Reporting the suspension on Twitter, city mayor Byron Brown said he and the police commissioner were "deeply disturbed" by the video.

An earlier police statement said the man, who appeared unconscious and bleeding heavily from the head, "tripped and fell."

Governor Andrew Cuomo called the incident "wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful," in a tweet.

In Indianapolis, police launched an investigation after a video emerged showing at least four officers hitting a woman with batons and firing pepper balls at her on Sunday night.  

And in New York City Thursday, officers baton-charged dozens of peaceful protesters defying a curfew in the Bronx after pinning them in, leaving them with nowhere to run, several reports said.

Thousands of people have been marching in cities across the United States for 10 straight days, with large demonstrations also taking place in European capitals.

Floyd, 46, died in the Midwestern city of Minneapolis during a May 25 arrest when a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

– TIMES/AFP