Washington’s Catholic archbishop has strongly criticised President Donald Trump’s visit to a shrine as civil unrest continues in the US over the death of a black man in police custody.
Tuesday’s visit “manipulated” the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, said Archbishop Wilton D Gregory.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people joined the largely peaceful demonstrations in cities across the country.
Traffic police were deployed to stop a repeat of the looting in Manhattan that took place the night before, and there were no reports of major incidents.
40 cities have imposed strict curfew measures after days of violent protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, 46, in Minneapolis on 25 May. In Atlanta, police fired tear gas to disperse a demonstration near Centennial Olympic Park.
Earlier, Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden criticised Trump for using the crisis to appeal to his supporters, saying he was “serving the passions of his base.”
