A mass of protesters demonstrating in the wake of George Floyd’s death set a police department in downtown Minneapolis on fire.
Video and images circulating on Twitter show hundreds of protesters surrounding the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct early Friday morning as flames shot out of the building.
“We’re looking at the building on fire, and it says Minneapolis Police Department right on the side of the building, and we have seen people, at least going — I think we’ve seen a few going in and out of parts of the building,” CNN host Don Lemon said. “The department is on fire.”
Protesters have cropped up throughout the city this week in reaction to the death of Floyd at the hands of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin. Multiple buildings including a Target were burned during protests on Thursday.
The Minneapolis Fire Department was instructed to stand down so as to deescalate the situation.
“We tried to get into that area, and it was determined at the time by folks on cameras, and looking at the scene, was untenable,” Minneapolis Fire Department Chief John Fruetel told Lemon. “We’ve had different projectiles thrown at us the last two nights. Many of the windows of my chief’s car right now are broken out from rocks. We just had rocks thrown at us again as we left this last scene. So, we have to really consider the safety of our firefighters in those areas.”
The Twitter account for the City of Minneapolis warned people to stay away from the 3rd Precinct building after “unconfirmed reports” that explosive materials had been placed in the building.
We’re hearing unconfirmed reports that gas lines to the Third Precinct have been cut and other explosive materials are in the building.
If you are near the building, for your safety, PLEASE RETREAT in the event the building explodes.
— City of Minneapolis (@CityMinneapolis) May 29, 2020
