Holly MatkinMinneapolis, MN – At least two Minnesota National Guard members were injured in a drive-by shooting and more than 100 rioters were arrested in a single night as violent uprisings continue to take the Twin Cities metropolitan area by storm.
An undisclosed number of Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) troopers are being sent to Minneapolis to assist with the mobs at the request of Minnesota Highway Patrol and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, WBNS reported.
Brooklyn Center city officials tried to drop its mandatory curfew on Friday night for the first time since the fatal officer-involved shooting of Daunte Wright on April 11, according to National Review.
Now-former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter, a 26-year veteran of the department, allegedly shot Wright by mistake and intended to tase him while he was resisting arrest during a traffic stop that day, according to police.
Potter has since resigned from the force and has been arrested for second-degree manslaughter.
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot’s attempt to forgo the curfew on April 16 failed miserably and rioters turned out in droves, National Review reported.
A black man tried discouraging #antifa from being violent at the Brooklyn Center, Minn. protest (they’re throwing projectiles). He stands directly in front of them. Powerful video by @BGOnTheScene #DaunteWright #BLM pic.twitter.com/lOQCrOYL4g
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) April 15, 2021
The mob managed to force its way through a protective barrier surrounding the Brooklyn Center Police Department (BCPD) by approximately 9:30 p.m.
Many were carrying paint cans, umbrellas, wooden shields, and cans, photos from the uprising showed.
Most protesters who gathered Friday evening in Brooklyn Center were vocal, but peaceful. Others, most of whom arrived after 9 p.m., brought items that indicated peaceful protest was not their intent. We continue to support peaceful protest. #MNOSN pic.twitter.com/2NynFxB3iU
— Minnesota OSN (@MinnesotaOSN) April 17, 2021
Officers deployed pepper spray and flash bangs to push the rioters back so the perimeter could be restored, National Review reported.
Members of the group continued to attack police by hurling various objects at them, so the gathering was declared an unlawful assembly.
#BrooklynCenter
Pepper spray used against crowd of Antifa-BLM outside BCPD. pic.twitter.com/va4GOyAzBL— Shane B. Murphy (@shanermurph) April 17, 2021
The city ended up announcing at 10:30 p.m. that night that a curfew would be going into effect after all, and ordered people to stay home from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. the following day, National Review reported.
#BrooklynCenter
Flash bang beats umbrella. pic.twitter.com/hsA2dJr7Gx— Shane B. Murphy (@shanermurph) April 17, 2021
A total of 136 rioters were arrested between Friday night and early Saturday morning, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.
@AFPphoto journalist @EleonoreSens and another member of the press is maced by Minnesota Police after an unlawful assembly is declared in Brooklyn Center, MN pic.twitter.com/WD2fC0KwvO
— Alex Kent (@AlexKentTN) April 17, 2021
“Tearing down a fence, coming armed to a protest, is not in my mind befitting a peaceful protest,” Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said during a press conference early Saturday morning, according to KNOW. “It is not befitting groups that are there to recognize the tragedy that is the loss of Daunte Wright.”
Black Lives Matter protesters showed up outside Washington County Attorney Pete Orput’s residence in Stillwater on Saturday afternoon to demand Potter be charged with something more serious than the manslaughter charge, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported.
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota….not Tehran pic.twitter.com/d538mSMg0t
— Logan Ratick (@Logan_Ratick) April 19, 2021
U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (D-California) joined hundreds of protesters in Brooklyn Center Saturday night and urged them to “stay in the streets” and become more confrontational and active, according to the paper.
“I’m here from Washington, D.C., because I could not sleep, I could not rest, I could not be satisfied that another young black man has been killed by police,” Waters, 82, told the mob. “I’m here to say that I stand with you, I stand with his family, and I stand with everybody who cares about justice.”
Waters shrugged off the 11 p.m. curfew city officials imposed in Brooklyn Center that night, and told the crowd she hoped they would continue their activities, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported.
Maxine Waters is marching in Brooklyn Center tonight and told people to take to the streets if Chauvin is acquitted pic.twitter.com/RemfvCCLAn
— Reasonable Officer Poso (@JackPosobiec) April 18, 2021
Thousands of armed Minnesota National Guard troops were deployed to the Twin Cities metropolitan area last week to help maintain order in the wake of Wright’s death, the Star Tribune reported.
The officer-involved shooting occurred while tensions were already high due to the ongoing murder trial of now-former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in connection with the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd.
Troops have been stationed throughout the metro area, positioned outside of businesses, libraries, office buildings, grocery stores, and pharmacies, the Star Tribune reported.
Members of the @MNNationalGuard, and other agencies, are accompanying emergency medical and fire responders in the Twin Cities metro area to provide security for first responders, enabling them to safely treat patients and save lives. pic.twitter.com/dTwXD7sruE
— Minnesota OSN (@MinnesotaOSN) April 18, 2021
Many buildings have been boarded up since last week, with some owners adding razor wire to help deter rioters, according to the paper.
A gunman in a white SUV opened fire on Minneapolis police and a group of National Guard troops positioned near West Broadway Avenue and Penn Avenue North in Minneapolis at approximately 4:19 a.m. on April 18, KMSP reported.
One guardsman suffered superficial injuries as a result of the attack, while another was injured due to being hit with shattered glass, according to the news outlet.
Demonstrators gathered across the street from the Brooklyn Police Department (BPD) later Sunday afternoon to demand Potter be charged with murder instead of manslaughter, KMSP reported.
A group of U of M medical students and doctors are marching to the Brooklyn Center police department to speak out against police use of #LessLethal weapons for crowd control during protests. @kare11 pic.twitter.com/rdsJ0yqxxh
— Gordon Severson (@GordonSeverson) April 17, 2021
Closing arguments in Chauvin’s trial are expected to wrap up on Monday.
The jury will be sequestered during deliberations.
Over 1,000 buildings in Minneapolis were looted, torched or vandalized during months of rioting that ensued in the wake of Floyd’s death last year, the Star Tribune reported.
In March, Hennepin County and Minneapolis officials estimated it would cost approximately $1 million to fortify government buildings ahead of the jury’s decision.
