Protester Clea Ibrahim pleads through a megaphone as rioters smash windows following a demonstration in Eugene, Oregon.
"I didn't want to vandalise the town. I just wanted to run through the town and scream George Floyd's name," she told the Register-Guard newspaper.
"I was trying to stop them. This needs to be peaceful. I don't think George would've wanted to have those windows broken."
Officials in more than a dozen cities across the US are bracing for similar scenes as protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody sparked outrage over police mistreatment of African-Americans.
Police cars and other property were set alight and destroyed in New York, Dallas, Atlanta and elsewhere, and protesters shouted and chanted for hours outside the White House in Washington, as President Donald Trump sat inside.
Authorities have been pointing the finger at both white supremacists and alternatively far-left activists as demonstrations turn violent.
Others, such as Ms Ibrahim, have been pleading with fellow demonstrators to respect Mr Floyd by protesting peacefully.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was one of the many voices denouncing the violence. She said people who wanted change in the country needed to register to vote in November.
“You are disgracing our city, you are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country.
“We are better than this, we are better than this as a city, we are better than this as a country. Go Home!” she pleaded.
“This is not a protest, this is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Junior, this is chaos,” she added.
Governor Tim Walz said he was mobilising the entire 13,000-strong Minnesota National Guard to deal with the rioters who have looted shops and set fires in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, a move not taken since World War II.
He also said he had spoken with the Pentagon on drawing on US military resources for peacekeeping, and The New York Times reported that, at Mr Trump's bidding, military police were being put on notice for possible mobilisation, a step not taken in decades.
An injured man reacts during scuffles with US Park Police officers during protests over the Minneapolis death of George Floyd. Source: EPA
Mr Walz said he would continue to support peaceful protests during the day as members of the African-American community memorialised Mr Floyd, whose death on Monday was seen on a horrifying cellphone video around the world.
The protests were expected to continue throughout the weekend even after the now-fired Minneapolis police officer accused of Mr Floyd's death was arrested and charged with third degree murder on Friday.
With a video showing the officer, Derek Chauvin, pressing his knee on the neck of Mr Floyd for nearly nine minutes until well after he went motionless, while three other officers assisted, Mr Floyd's family and many protestors demanded more arrests and tougher murder charges.
Chanting Mr Floyd's repeated words to the police - "I can't breathe" - protesters across the country said it was the latest example of systemic police brutality against African Americans.
