Several people were arrested after rioters took to Brooklyn Center’s streets and attacked law enforcement in the fourth consecutive night of unrest following the death of Daunte Wright.
While the Wednesday night demonstration began peacefully, the crowd soon devolved to violence when police were assaulted with “industrial-sized fireworks, spray paint, rocks, and other items,” according to the series of tweets from Minnesota’s Operation Safety Net, a coalition of officers dedicated to protecting Minneapolis during the contentious George Floyd trial. A total of 24 people were apprehended, most of which were for curfew violations.
There were no reports of looting, and law enforcement noted that the arrest total was markedly less than that of Tuesday night when 60 individuals found themselves behind bars.
“We want people to leave,” Minnesota State Patrol Col. Matt Langer said. “We don’t want to arrest people. Our goal is not to see how many people we can arrest as part of Operation Safety Net.”
MORE THAN 60 ARRESTED FOLLOWING DAUNTE WRIGHT PROTEST
Wright died after former police officer Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, mistook her gun for a Taser and shot him one time on Sunday. The 20-year-old was pronounced deceased after he fled the scene in his car and crashed a short distance away.
Potter has since been arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter. She was later released from confinement after posting a $100,000 bond.
Footage from Wednesday night showed demonstrators, many of whom donned black clothing and umbrellas, pushing against a fence outside the city’s police precinct as officers in riot helmets stood on the opposite side. A loud boom, which appeared to be a non-lethal munition, can be heard in the footage exploding on the protester side.
#Antifa rioters in black bloc push up against the barrier at the Brooklyn Center Police Department in Minnesota. #BLM #DaunteWright pic.twitter.com/nAMdmFtot7
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) April 15, 2021
Earlier in the day, a CNN news crew, which included reporter Miguel Marquez, was attacked and shooed away by a crowd of people while covering protest activity outside the precinct. One member of the CNN crew was hit directly in the head with a water bottle. He fell to the ground while protesters mocked him. The man got up and said, “It’s all good.”
Within minutes, the crew was chased away.
“F— out of here,” protesters yelled as they followed the crew through the street. Some in the crowd hurled eggs at the reporters.
“We don’t want any trouble,” one of the CNN team members told protesters as they entered a vehicle to drive away. One egg was thrown at the driver’s side window, and the crew appeared to bump a car as they tried to make a hasty exit.
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Protesters just chased the entire CNN crew away from the police precinct. pic.twitter.com/r6TGmnBxIH
— Nic Rowan (@NicXTempore) April 15, 2021
Minneapolis is on edge as it awaits the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former officer accused of murder after he knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes in late May 2020, sparking nationwide demonstrations and riots. A citywide curfew was announced and extended in an effort to quell the new wave of violence following details of Wright’s death.
“We will stop violence and criminal activity,” Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson said. “We will not abandon the city and the citizens of Brooklyn Center.”
