The police union issued a statement defending the officers involved in the shootings and said both men killed were gang members who had criminal records.
A protester screams at police blocking the doorway to Anaheim City Council Chambers, July 24, 2012.
Riot police fired bean bag rounds and pepper balls into a crowd of protestors late Tuesday outside City Hall as council members inside voted unanimously to ask the U.S. attorney’s office to investigate recent officer-involved shootings, including one of an unarmed man.
About 250 riot police were called in by officials to quell the more than 600 demonstrators before restoring order. Twenty-four people were arrested in the unrest.
The back-to-back weekend shootings have sparked four days of protests. A crowd of protesters who were shut out of the council meeting because there was no more room grew violent, tossing rocks and bottles at police and ignoring warnings to disperse.
Officers formed lines to try to contain the crowd as residents set fire to trash cans, loudly taunted police and swarmed a Starbucks, breaking windows.
Police helicopters hovered from above as colorful fireworks from nearby Disneyland lit up the sky.
CBS station KCAL reports that some of the people in the crowd were trying to hold a peaceful demonstration, but others began chanting, swearing and yelling at police officers.
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