Car ploughs into George Floyd protesters on third night of unrest across America

A car ploughed through protesters who had gathered in response to the death of George Floyd - as unrest on the streets of America continues into its third night.

The driver can be seen appearing to ram his car towards crowds protesting in Denver, Colorado.

The protests are in reaction to horrifying footage that showed George Floyd, 46, gasping for breath as white officer Derek Chauvin kneels on his neck for several minutes.

Floyd died.

In the clip, the car mows into a small group of protesters as one man climbs onto the bonnet of the black SUV and slips off.

The car then appears to turn toward the man and hit him as he attempts to flee.

As the car eventually speeds away, demonstrators chase after the vehicle - with one woman grabbing onto the passenger side window and beating on the glass.

It comes after a police station in Minneapolis was set on fire last night also.

Dramatic images show the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct surrounded by flames on Thursday night.

The station's windows were broken and protesters climbed over fences as officers retreated having fired projectiles, reports the New York Times.

Images later showed officers abandoning the department as rioters celebrated, posing for pictures in front of the flames.

Alarms blared as protesters continued to chant, according to reports.

“This is 400 years of anger,” one protester, Justin Galbraith, told The Daily Beast.

“There are so many innocent lives lost by the police. We protest peacefully and there is no accountability. So this happens,” demonstrator Cecilia Zwak said.

The latest spasm of unrest in Minnesota's largest city went largely unchecked, despite Governor Tim Walz ordering the National Guard activated to help restore order following the first two days of disturbances sparked by Monday night's fatal arrest of George Floyd.

In contrast with Wednesday night, when rock-throwing demonstrators clashed repeatedly with police in riot gear, law enforcement kept a low profile around the epicentre of the unrest, outside the city's Third Precinct police station.

Protesters outside the building briefly retreated under volleys of police tear gas and rubber bullets fired at them from the roof, only to reassemble and eventually attack the building head on, setting fire to the structure as police seemed to withdraw.

Protesters were later observed on the roof.

The Floyd case is reminiscent of the 2014 killing of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man in New York City who died after being put in a banned police chokehold as he was heard saying: "I can't breathe."

His dying words became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement that formed amid a wave of killings of African-Americans by police.

At a morning news briefing yesterday, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo apologised to Floyd's family, conceding his department had contributed to a "deficit of hope" in Minnesota's largest city.

Hours later, officials overseeing investigations from the U.S. Justice Department, FBI, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and local prosecutors appealed for calm at a joint news conference, as they gathered evidence.

"Give us the time to do this right, and we will bring you justice," County Attorney Mike Freeman told reporters.