Violence broke out between protestors and police as 20,000 people attended a Black Lives Matter protest in Paris on Wednesday.

Protestors vented their fury at events in America, where black African American, George Floyd, died of asphyxiation in Minneapolis last week after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Police used tear gas to control crowds as violence ensued during the second consecutive day of demonstrations in the French capital following an earlier peaceful march.

Protesters in Paris are not just fighting for justice for Floyd; they are also angered by the death of another black man in France four years ago.

Adama Traore, 24, also died of asphyxiation while in police custody in 2016 and his family has led a campaign calling for justice for him.

His sister, Assa, climbed on top of a bus stop to speak to the crowds gathered on streets around the city's investigative court.

"Last week we saw the death of George Floyd, this black man, our brother, who died in horrible scenes, scenes that will freeze our blood, and scenes that follow the death of my little brother, Adama," she said.

"They were put in choke holds. Adama took the weight of three policemen on him; George Floyd took the weight of three policemen on him. They had the same words: I can't breathe. I can't breathe."

France has long had a problem with accusations of heavy-handedness when it comes to the police's methods of law enforcement, especially in the suburbs of France's major cities, where lots of the country's ethnic minorities live.

The police have also been accused regularly of racial profiling when it comes to the arrests and stop-and-searches of Black French and French North African men.

Law enforcement agencies say they are often harassed and provoked into such tough responses.

There was a smaller, silent march in Paris on Monday outside the US embassy but this one was much larger, and there was a much bigger police presence as well, with officers in riot gear blocking roads and water cannon parked nearby.

There were also demonstrations on Tuesday in other major French cities, including Marseille, Lyon and Lille, as well as Netherlands' capital, Amsterdam.

Around 5,000 people gathered in Amsterdam's Dam Square on Monday to protest against police brutality in the U.S. and Europe. 

Several Dutch anti-racism groups organized the protest after other European cities had done the same. Demonstrators were carrying signs bearing slogans such as "Black Lives Matter" and "White Silence = Complicity."

In America, protests have been marred by violence between citizens and police, but a spokesman for the municipality of Amsterdam said the rally was peaceful and passed without conflict. 

The Dutch Health Authority, RIVM, attempted to impose social-distancing measures prior to the protest by advising people to maintain a 1.5 meter safety distance. 

Due to the unexpectedly high attendance, this was not possible. But the majority of the protesters were seen wearing protective face masks.

A spokesperson for the Amsterdam OLVG hospital said he feared the protests could spark a new wave of COVID-19 cases because of the lack of social distancing.