Three shot, one person killed. Hundreds are arrested. Buildings are ablaze. Widespread protests, defying curfews across the US.

Speaking about Friday’s protests, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that while some people turned up to peacefully protest others went to “incite acts of violence.”

The mayor said the New York City Police Department had experienced “horrible, vile things” and added that “tremendous violence … will not stand.”

De Blasio said some protestors tried “to harm police officers and they did harm police officers. They meant to attack police vehicles and they did, they meant to attack police precincts.”

“We will not accept that,” the mayor said.

However, de Blasio did not condone police acts against peaceful protestors, and said that elected officials at the protests had been pepper sprayed.

“That’s unacceptable and we need to understand exactly why that happened and there needs to be accountability,” he said.

“It’s wrong in every way, but it also sets us back,” he added. “Last night was a difficult, complex situation.” He is launching an independent review of Friday’s events.

The NYPD is obliged to keep peace, protect everyone and avoid anything that allows further violence to occur, said de Blasio.

“We’ve seen some videos that do not reflect the philosophy of this city, the values of this city, the values of this administration, do not reflect the values of the NYPD,” he added.