WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden called Tuesday on Americans to unite after the guilty verdict in the racially charged murder by a policeman of a Black man and pleaded for protesters to stay clear of violence.

"This is the time for this country to come together, to unite as Americans," he said in nationally televised remarks.

"There are those who will seek to exploit the raw emotions in the moment -- agitators and extremists who have no interest in social justice," he warned. "We can't let them succeed."