Protesters take a knee as another group who was calling for the repeal of all government restrictions related to concern about the spread of COVID-19 sings the national anthem across the street at the State House, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

BOSTON (AP) — The mayor of Boston hosted a prayer vigil with clergy and the city’s police commissioner Saturday to honor the memory of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.

Protests, some turning violent, erupted in cities around the country on Friday and Saturday over Floyd’s death on Monday. The officer was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Ten people were arrested and four police officers were injured during protests in Boston’s South End Friday night. The injured officers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, Boston Police Sergeant Detective John Boyle said Saturday.

Other smaller protests happened Saturday, one near the State House and another in the form of a vehicle caravan with signs calling for the cancellation of housing rents and mortgages and the end to police brutality.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said the prayer vigil, streamed live on the Boston government website, was to honor Floyd and to reflect “on his murder.”

“If there’s ever a moment to acknowledge injustice and re-commit our nation to eradicating it, it’s right now,” Walsh said. “It’s this moment. This is our moment in time to make a difference. This is our moment in time to change as a nation.”

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