Police in riot gear have made numerous arrests as protesters took to the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, after a judge cleared a police officer over the deaths of two unarmed black suspects killed in a barrage of gunfire.
Demonstrators gathered in central Cleveland and west side neighbourhoods after the acquittal of patrolman Michael Brelo, 31.
In a written verdict delivered to a packed courtroom, the judge said Mr Brelo's actions in the November 2012 shootings were justified because he believed that someone in the car containing Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams fired shots at police at the beginning, middle and end of the chase.
Mr Brelo remains on unpaid suspension while officials consider administrative charges against him.
The acquittal came at a time of nationwide tension over the deaths of black suspects at the hands of white officers, and following a determination by the US Department of Justice that Cleveland police had a history of using excessive force and violating civil rights.
Mr Brelo, who fired a total of 49 shots, including 15 through the windscreen while standing on the bonnet of the suspects' vehicle, would have faced as many as 22 years in prison had the judge convicted him on two counts of voluntary manslaughter.
The deaths occurred after Timothy Russell's car backfired outside police headquarters on November 29 2012. Thirteen officers fired at the car with Mr Russell and Ms Williams inside after a 22-mile chase that involved 62 marked and unmarked cars and reached 100mph.
Mr Russell, 43, and Ms Williams, 30, were each shot more than 20 times. Mr Brelo was the only officer charged because prosecutors said he waited until the pair was no longer a threat to fire his final 15 rounds.
Mr Russell's sister Michelle said she believed Mr Brelo would ultimately face justice.
"He's not going to dodge this just because he was acquitted," she said. "God will have the final say."
After the verdict, sheriff's deputies stood in front of the court carrying shields as protesters chanted "Hands up! Don't shoot!" - a rallying cry linked to the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article