AP PHOTOS: Looking back at fiery George Floyd protests
A protester carries a U.S. flag upside down as he walks past a burning building in Minneapolis on May 28, 2020, during a protest over the death of George Floyd,. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Protesters and National Guardsmen face off on East Lake Street, Friday, May 29, 2020, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A protester poses for photos next to a burning police vehicle in Los Angeles on May 30, 2020, during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Flames rise from a Los Angeles Police Department kiosk in The Grove shopping center during a protest over the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Protesters kneel in front of New York City Police Department officers before being arrested for violating curfew beside the iconic Plaza Hotel on 59th Street, Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Thousands of people gather for a peaceful demonstration in support of George Floyd and Regis Korchinski-Paquet and protest against racism, injustice and police brutality, in Vancouver, May 31, 2020. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
A protester in an Elmo mask dances during the Justice for George Floyd Philadelphia Protest on Saturday, May 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Demonstrators are detained by Atlanta Police during a protest, Saturday, May 30, 2020 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
People run out of a smoke shop with smoking instruments after breaking in as police arrive on Monday, June 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Lydia Robinson, 31, of Raleigh, N.C., speaks as demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, June 3, 2020, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A demonstrator has their eyes flushed as people protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A young boy holds a sign that says Justice as he peers outside the window of a car passing protesters marching through downtown for a third night of unrest Sunday May 31, 2020, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Police officers and protesters clash in Atlanta on May 29, 2020, during a protest in response to George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Arrested protesters are loaded onto a transport bus by police on South Washington Street, Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Thousands of people demonstrate in Cologne, Germany, June 6, 2020, to protest against racism and the recent killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
A demonstrator is taken into custody by police after a curfew took effect during a protest over the death of George Floyd, Monday, June 1, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
People demonstrate outside a burning Arby’s fast food restaurant on May 29, 2020, in Minneapolis during a protest over the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A protester carries a U.S. flag upside down as he walks past a burning building in Minneapolis on May 28, 2020, during a protest over the death of George Floyd,. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A protester carries a U.S. flag upside down as he walks past a burning building in Minneapolis on May 28, 2020, during a protest over the death of George Floyd,. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Protesters and National Guardsmen face off on East Lake Street, Friday, May 29, 2020, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Protesters and National Guardsmen face off on East Lake Street, Friday, May 29, 2020, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A protester poses for photos next to a burning police vehicle in Los Angeles on May 30, 2020, during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
A protester poses for photos next to a burning police vehicle in Los Angeles on May 30, 2020, during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Flames rise from a Los Angeles Police Department kiosk in The Grove shopping center during a protest over the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Flames rise from a Los Angeles Police Department kiosk in The Grove shopping center during a protest over the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Protesters kneel in front of New York City Police Department officers before being arrested for violating curfew beside the iconic Plaza Hotel on 59th Street, Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Protesters kneel in front of New York City Police Department officers before being arrested for violating curfew beside the iconic Plaza Hotel on 59th Street, Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Thousands of people gather for a peaceful demonstration in support of George Floyd and Regis Korchinski-Paquet and protest against racism, injustice and police brutality, in Vancouver, May 31, 2020. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Thousands of people gather for a peaceful demonstration in support of George Floyd and Regis Korchinski-Paquet and protest against racism, injustice and police brutality, in Vancouver, May 31, 2020. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
A protester in an Elmo mask dances during the Justice for George Floyd Philadelphia Protest on Saturday, May 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A protester in an Elmo mask dances during the Justice for George Floyd Philadelphia Protest on Saturday, May 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Demonstrators are detained by Atlanta Police during a protest, Saturday, May 30, 2020 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Demonstrators are detained by Atlanta Police during a protest, Saturday, May 30, 2020 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
People run out of a smoke shop with smoking instruments after breaking in as police arrive on Monday, June 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
People run out of a smoke shop with smoking instruments after breaking in as police arrive on Monday, June 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Lydia Robinson, 31, of Raleigh, N.C., speaks as demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, June 3, 2020, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Lydia Robinson, 31, of Raleigh, N.C., speaks as demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, June 3, 2020, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A demonstrator has their eyes flushed as people protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A demonstrator has their eyes flushed as people protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A young boy holds a sign that says Justice as he peers outside the window of a car passing protesters marching through downtown for a third night of unrest Sunday May 31, 2020, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
A young boy holds a sign that says Justice as he peers outside the window of a car passing protesters marching through downtown for a third night of unrest Sunday May 31, 2020, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Police officers and protesters clash in Atlanta on May 29, 2020, during a protest in response to George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Police officers and protesters clash in Atlanta on May 29, 2020, during a protest in response to George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Arrested protesters are loaded onto a transport bus by police on South Washington Street, Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Arrested protesters are loaded onto a transport bus by police on South Washington Street, Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Thousands of people demonstrate in Cologne, Germany, June 6, 2020, to protest against racism and the recent killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Thousands of people demonstrate in Cologne, Germany, June 6, 2020, to protest against racism and the recent killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
A demonstrator is taken into custody by police after a curfew took effect during a protest over the death of George Floyd, Monday, June 1, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A demonstrator is taken into custody by police after a curfew took effect during a protest over the death of George Floyd, Monday, June 1, 2020, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
People demonstrate outside a burning Arby’s fast food restaurant on May 29, 2020, in Minneapolis during a protest over the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
People demonstrate outside a burning Arby’s fast food restaurant on May 29, 2020, in Minneapolis during a protest over the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
The protests raged night after night, starting in Minneapolis and swiftly spreading across the U.S. and around the world in the days after George Floyd’s death.
Nearly a year later, the police officer who pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck was convicted of murder Tuesday, and crowds filled city streets again, this time to celebrate the verdict. But the images of the 2020 demonstrations still crackle with tension: protesters with raised fists, police brandishing weapons and tear gas, and fires burning.
In those first nights of the renewed protest movement, some demonstrators held up signs with Floyd’s last words: “I can’t breathe.” At one point, officers abandoned a Minneapolis police station to the crowds, and demonstrators torched it.
After being exposed to tear gas, some protesters doused their faces with milk. Others set off fireworks. Businesses were ransacked.
Graffiti on city walls called police murderers. In one highly symbolic image, a protester carried a U.S. flag upside down, a sign of distress.