Couple draw guns at US protest crowd

A white couple pointed guns at protesters in Missouri as a group marched to the mayor's home to demand she resign after she read the names and addresses of residents who support defunding the police department in an online briefing.

A social media video showed the armed couple standing outside their large home on Sunday evening in the upscale Central West End neighbourhood of St Louis.

In the video, the unidentified couple shouted at protesters, while people in the march moved the crowd forward, urging participants to ignore them. People in the crowd included black and white protesters.

The group of at least 500 people was heading toward Mayor Lyda Krewson's home, chanting, "Resign Lyda, take the cops with you," news outlets reported.

Resignation demands come after a Friday Facebook live briefing, where Krewson read the names and addresses of several residents who wrote letters to the mayor suggesting she defund the police department.

The video was removed from Facebook and Krewson apologised on Friday, stating she didn't "intend to cause distress."

The names and letters are considered public records but Krewson's actions received heavy backlash.

Protesters nationwide have been pushing to " defund the police " following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd, a black man in handcuffs, died on May 25 after a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes.

An online petition calling for Krewson's resignation had more than 43,000 signatures as of early Monday.