Protesters mass after another police shooting of black man in US

Hundreds of 'Black Lives Matter' protesters march in the streets of New York City, New York, USA, July 7, 2016. Across the US, thousands of people protested against the recent killings of black men by police officers. [Photo/IC]

ST PAUL, Minnesota - Protesters in Chicago, New York and St. Paul, Minnesota, took to the streets on Thursday to express outrage after the second fatal police shooting of a black man in the United States in two days.

The protests were peaceful but tension was evident after the shooting of Philando Castile, 32, by police near St. Paul late on Wednesday. His girlfriend posted live video on the internet of the bloody scene minutes afterward, which was widely viewed.

Castile's death occurred within a day of the shooting of 37-year-old Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Sterling was killed during an altercation with two white police officers. Graphic video of that incident caused an outcry on social media.

In Chicago, protesters shut down a stretch of the Dan Ryan Expressway - one of Chicago's main arteries - for about 10 minutes on Thursday.

In New York, several hundred protesters blocked traffic in Times Square in the heart of Manhattan, chanting "Hands up, don't shoot." Police eventually cleared the intersection of 7th Avenue and 42nd Street to let traffic proceed.

In St. Paul, about a thousand people gathered outside the governor's mansion, chanting "Hey hey, ho ho, those killer cops have got to go," and other slogans.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton made a brief appearance in an attempt to quell the crowd. Earlier in the day, he said a state investigation was already under way.

"Would this have happened if the driver and the passengers were white? I don't think it would have," Dayton told reporters. "So I'm forced to confront that this kind of racism exists, and it's incumbent upon all of us to vow and ensure that it doesn't happen and doesn't continue to happen."

Dayton called for the US Department of Justice to open its own investigation, but the department said on Thursday it would assist the state investigation as necessary. The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the Baton Rouge shooting.