Photos and video of two protests in the United States held weeks apart - one demanding justice for a black man's death in custody and the other opposing coronavirus lockdowns - have painted a stark contrast in the police response.
Heated protests erupted in Minneapolis on Wednesday after the release of a video showing the violent arrest of an .
The handcuffed man, , died in hospital after the incident, during which he can be heard yelling "I can't breathe", as a white police officer kneels on his neck as three other white officers watch on.
A day later, thousands of outraged protesters surrounded the Third Precinct police station, where the officers worked before they were fired on Tuesday, calling for an end to black deaths by law enforcement.
Video of the first day of protests show police officers dressed in riot gear firing tear gas, rubber bullets and smoke bombs at the protesters, some who had thrown rocks and other objects.
Police respond to protests demanding justice for George Floyd on Wednesday. Source: Star Tribune
The dramatic photos of the police response prompted some on social media to compare them with video and images captured during anti-lockdown protests held in Michigan earlier this month.
During the earlier protests, demonstrators - some visibly carrying guns - attempted to storm a government building demanding the end to strict lockdown measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.
The striking images appear to show a markedly different police response to the demonstrations, but not using weapons, such as tear gas, to push them back.
US politics expert at the University of Sydney US Studies Centre, David Smith, told SBS News the police response in Minneapolis was "predictably heavy-handed".
"There was an immediate siege mentality from the police," he said. "That in return was met by protesters essentially arming themselves with whatever was available and throwing things back at police."
A man, seen through the broken glass of a bus stop, stands on a car and claps during a protest near the Third Police Precinct. Source: Getty Images North America
The different targets of the two protests - in Minneapolis, the anger was directed at police, while in Michigan, it was targeted at politicians - likely played a role in the differing responses, Dr Smith said, but added that race was also a significant factor.
"In some ways, it's predictable that you get them more aggressive response from police when the protests are directed at them," he said.
"But there is also another point ... which is police tend to respond very differently to armed black people from the way they respond to armed white people, they are much more likely to see armed black people as a threat.
"So, there is this really differential response where a white person with a semi-automatic rifle is less of a threat than a black person who's armed themselves with whatever they were able to pick up at the time."
, local media and that buildings had been set alight. The same evening Minneapolis police held a midnight press conference to announce the shooting death of a man in the vicinity of the protests.
At the time of publishing, one person was in custody in relation to the shooting but the circumstances that led to the incident were unclear.
The recent protests are the latest eruption in the Black Lives Matter movement, which began in 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida.
Thousands gather to protest George Floyd's death at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Source: Star Tribune
Similar protests erupted in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 after a policeman shot dead a young African-American man suspected of robbery, as well as the case of New Yorker Eric Garner, who was detained by police for illegally selling cigarettes and filmed being held in an illegal chokehold by police that led to his death.
Another US Studies Centre researcher, Elliott Brennan, described the current protests as "a perfect picture of chaos", noting that past responses to Black Live Matters protests also saw a heavily armed police response.
"In 2014, you had a police force that looked like a military unit and it's likely that we are going to see that again with indications the National Guard may be brought in to assist in this case," he said.
Mr Brennan, who this week published a report on the history of protest in the United States, said that police being dressed in riot gear, as in Minneapolis, is often an indication that they are "expecting violence from the get-go".
"In Minnesota, you had that the other way around, where you had protesters that were armed to the teeth with bulletproof vests and police with not much more than a pistol and a badge," he said.
Michigan State Police look on during the a protest rally against Gov Gretchen Whitmer's order to stay home during COVID-19 pandemic in Lansing. Source: Detroit Free Press/TNS/Sipa USA
In Minneapolis, by comparison, he said we are seeing a "heavily armed, militarised police force going up against people armed with rocks and a voice".
As the protests turned increasingly violent on Thursday, Minnesota Governer Tim Walz urged people to leave the area, which he said had evolved into an "extremely dangerous situation".
Additional reporting by AFP
