Aurora protest: One shot after car drives through Black Lives Matter demonstrators in Colorado

Authorities say vehicle was towed and they are investigating

Demonstrators were walking on Interstate 225 in the Denver suburb of Aurora on Saturday when a vehicle drove through, police said (Getty Images)

A car ploughed into a crowd of Black Lives Matter demonstrators protesting against systemic racism and police brutality and a protester has been shot in Colorado.

The Aurora Police Department said the demonstrator who was shot was rushed to hospital in stable condition – adding that a protester shot a weapon which hit at least one person.

Demonstrators were walking on Interstate 225 in the Denver suburb of Aurora on Saturday when a vehicle drove through the crowd, police said.

Authorities said the vehicle was towed and they are investigating.

Protesters also broke windows to the courthouse and a fire was started in an office, police said, with demonstrators ordered to leave after an unlawful assembly was declared.

Tensions have been heightened at recent protests against racial injustice after federal agents were sent to quell demonstrations in Portland, Oregon.

Thousands of protesters gathered outside the federal courthouse in Portland into the early hours of Saturday.

Protests against police brutality have spread around the world following the 25 May death of George Floyd, a black man in Minnesota who died after a white officer held him to the ground with a knee to his neck.

In Colorado, protesters have been drawing attention to the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old black man who was stopped by police while walking down an Aurora street in August 2019 after a 911 caller reported him as suspicious.

Police placed him in a chokehold, and paramedics administered 500 milligrams of ketamine, a sedative, to calm him down.

Mr McClain went into cardiac arrest, was later declared brain dead and taken off life support.

His death has become a rallying point as outrage over police brutality and racism in the US has grown in recent weeks.

Additional reporting by Associated Press