Protesters Clash with Police in Minneapolis Following George Floyd's Death

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the intersection where George Floyd was killed after a forceful encounter with police ... and things got pretty tense.

The protest began Tuesday night in Minneapolis, with people lining the streets carrying banners reading "KKKops" "Again?" "Black Lives Matter" and "Justice for George."

Similar chants of "I can't breathe" and "No Justice, No Peace" broke out among the demonstrators, who eventually marched more than 2 miles to a city police precinct ... with some causing damage along the way.

Things escalated to a point where protesters were met by cops in riot gear, who fired tear gas canisters and projectiles into the crowd. Some kicked the canisters back toward police, and made a makeshift barricade of shopping carts at a Target across the street from the station.

Though steady rain lessened the crowd, skirmishes lasted late into the night.

As we reported ... Floyd died shortly after officers arrested him for an alleged forgery in progress. Footage of the incident shows one cop pressing his knee down on George's neck for several minutes -- ignoring his pleas that he couldn't breathe -- while witnesses shouted that he was being killed.

Floyd's family lawyer, Ben Crump, told us the violent incident -- along with other similar stories recently -- has black people believing it's "open season" on them in America right now.

Clearly, the protesters in Minneapolis want to put a stop to it.