(REUTERS) - A string of deadly confrontations between mostly white police and black men will be among challenges immediately facing Loretta Lynchwhen she is sworn in on Monday as U.S. attorney general.

Lynch, 55, takes over as the country's top law enforcement official after a weekend that saw thousands of people in Baltimore, Maryland, take to the streets in mostly peaceful protests over the latest such case. A 25-year-old black man died a week after being injured while in police custody.

Building on her career as an accomplished federal prosecutor, Lynch takes over from retiring Attorney General Eric Holder, who served more than six turbulent years at the head of the Justice Department.

Holder was the first black U.S. attorney general and Lynch becomes the first black woman to hold the job.