At least seven Minneapolis police officers have resigned and more than half a dozen others are in the process of leaving, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports as anti-racist protests continue to rock the United States.

The report says the officers from the Minneapolis Police Department (MDP) are feeling misunderstood and stuck in the middle of a state probe, protests, city leaders and the media after the death of an unarmed black man during arrest last month.

George Floyd died on 25 May after a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes as he and his colleagues arrested him.

An onlooker's cell phone recorded the incident showing the 46-year-old black man moaning, "Please, I can't breathe" and "Don't kill me" as the police officer pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck.

After several minutes of the police officer pressing his knee on Floyd's neck, the victim went silent and was later pronounced dead.

The video quickly went viral on social media, sparking widespread protest from Tuesday afternoon, some of which have deteriorated into chaos.

In the two weeks since his death, protests has spilled beyond the U.S. as countries across the world show solidarity with the demonstrators seeking justice for Floyd's family.

Following the resignations of the officers, Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder told the newspaper that the resignations would not affect the department's ability to provide public safety services.

"There's nothing that leads us to believe that at this point the numbers are so great that it's going to be problematic," The Hill quotes Elder. "People seek to leave employment for a myriad reasons — the MPD is no exception."