Police in San Juan fired tear gas on Monday night to disperse thousands of protesters demanding Puerto Rico's governor resign over offensive chat messages, the latest scandal to hit a bankrupt island struggling to recover from 2017 hurricanes.

Police moved in at around 11 p.m. to break up protesters still on the streets of San Juan's old city following daylong demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of residents, according to tweets and videos from the scene.

Governor Ricardo Rossello on Sunday said he would not seek re-election next year and would step down as head of the New Progressive Party but the concessions failed to appease demonstrators, who called for him to immediately surrender the governorship.