George Floyd protests: Flames engulf 200-year-old church near White House

The scale of the protests spanned from San Francisco to Boston and unfolding on a single night

"This church has been standing in our city since the early 1800s. Please avoid the area," the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of the District of Columbia said on Twitter.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the basement fire, which police said was intentionally set. The MPD said it is currently responding to multiple fires intentionally set in Washington D.C and its suburban neighbourhoods.

Protestors were also seen pulling down a flag from the landmark that opened in the year 1816 and popularly nicknamed the "Church of the Presidents" as beginning with James Madison, every president has been an occasional attendee of services.

In Washington, Fox News