article_snippet.sent: a handful of people became criers in the desert against countless young people flinging rocks at police, breaking windows, looting and setting fires.
article_snippet.sent: But the messengers were a finger in a dam that quickly crumbled, as rowdy groups swelled into a full urban riot.
article_snippet.sent: But as crowds turned into multitudes, the intervention became a drop in the bucket by compare, and police lines were also no match.
article_snippet.sent: As officers in riot gear receded, flames engulfed cars and stores and roared out of apartment buildings into the night sky.
article_snippet.sent: A senior living facility under construction by a Baptist church burned to the ground.
article_snippet.sent: The blazes stretched the fire departments' resources, as at least 30 trucks deployed.
article_snippet.sent: Looters streamed into a CVS, bodegas and liquor stores and walked out with what Looters could carry.
article_snippet.sent: It later went up in flames.
highlights_snippet.sent: Community leaders and brave residents got in between rioters and police .