US Attorney General William Barr blames 'extremist groups' for violence during protests

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As the protests against the killing of George Floyd continued, US Attorney General William Barr has blamed foreign interests and "extremist agitators" of exploiting the nationwide protests which has been largely peaceful with sporadic incidents of violence.

"We have seen evidence that Antifa and other similar extremist groups, as well as actors of a variety of different political persuasions, have been involving in instigating and participating in violent activity," Barr said at a news conference.

Barr`s statements came three days after an internal intelligence assessment by the US Department of Homeland Security found that most of the violence at the protests seems to have been carried out by opportunists, and not by organized extremists.

Both Barr and US President Donald Trump have trained their guns at Antifa, a loosely organized anti-fascist movement, but the federal prosecutors in Las Vegas on Wednesday charged three members of the far-right "Boogaloo" movement for plans to cause violence and destruction during the ongoing protests.

While Barr has claimed that he had seen evidence of Antifa's involvement, and blamed them for instigating and participating in violent activity. He defended his decision to forcefully push protesters back from the White House on Monday evening, saying rioting had gotten out of control.

The protests in the US is an outcry over the death of African American man George Floyd which is the latest in a long series of killings of black men by white police officers.