Black Lives Matter protests turn ugly in US as Texas reports one death

Black Lives Matter protests took an ugly and violent form in the United States on late Saturday when one person was killed in downtown Austin, Texas.

Authorities said several shots were fired amid a protest as about 100 people marched and chanted, "Fists up! Fight back!"

Austin police and emergency medical services said on Twitter that one person was killed during the shooting. There were no other deaths or people shot, according to the EMS department.

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Initial reports indicate the suspect was carrying a rifle and shot at the victim, who was in his car, police told a briefing. The suspect has been detained, they said.

Another protester was shot in the suburban Denver suburb of Aurora during demonstrations against racial injustice.

The Aurora Police Department said on Twitter that protesters were walking on Interstate 225 Saturday when a vehicle drove through.

Police said a protester fired a weapon, striking at least one person who was taken to a hospital in stable condition.

In Colorado, protesters have been drawing attention to the death of Elijah McClain, who was stopped by police while walking down an Aurora street in August 2019 after a 911 caller reported him as suspicious.

In Richmond, a city dump truck was set on fire as protesters faced off with police in Virginia's capital during a demonstration in support of protesters on the other side of the country in Portland, Oregon.

Virginia State Police and Richmond police worked to clear the crowd of a several hundred demonstrators late Saturday.

Protesters had been planning for days the demonstration that was called Richmond Stands with Portland, in an apparent reaction to ongoing tensions between protesters and US Agents at the federal courthouse in Oregon's largest city.

Protests against racism and police brutality were sparked worldwide following the May killing of African-American George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while detaining him.

Portland is now the scene of a highly controversial crackdown by federal agents ordered by US President Donald Trump -- one that is not supported by local officials, and which many said smacked of authoritarianism.

Civil unrest, however, was not only confined to Portland -- as thousands of people marched in Seattle on Saturday in the largest Black Lives Matter demonstration in weeks, with a renewed energy.

Also on Saturday, three members of a black militia were shot in Louisville, Kentucky after a gun discharged at a Black Lives Matter protest.

The group of heavily armed Black protesters were marching through Louisville demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed in March by police officers who burst into her apartment.

police and federal agents fired tear gas and forcefully dispersed protesters in the US city of Portland on Saturday.

Trump, who is campaigning for re-election in November on "law and order," announced on Wednesday a "surge" of federal agents to crime hotspots including Chicago, following an increase in violence in the nation's third-largest city.

(with inputs from agencies)