A group of anti-cop protesters attacked Minneapolis police officers following an officer-involved shooting Wednesday night. Officers reportedly shot an armed man who fired at them first, Minneapolis police officials stated.
A tweet by Minneapolis Star-Tribune reporter Kim Hyatt revealed that police came under attack from a group of protesters. The group of more than 100 protesters reportedly threw bricks and ice balls at the officers. The incident followed an officer-involved shooting that left a felony suspect dead.
Officer over dispatch say there are more than 100 people and crowd is growing. Bricks thrown. One squad surrounded. Someone detained at 35th and Cedar. Another officer asked for permission to use 40 mm launcher because "they are starting to throw ice balls at us."
— Kim Hyatt (@kimvhyatt) December 31, 2020
Police dispatchers reportedly turned down the request to use the defensive weapon.
Launchers are not authorized to be used on crowd, only used "to stop imminent physical harm to officers," per dispatch.
— Kim Hyatt (@kimvhyatt) December 31, 2020
Star-Tribune reporter Alex Chhith tweeted a video showing a large crowd screaming at police and calling them murderers. “Abolish the police,” a woman yelled on a bull horn. “You f**king murders.”
Out here at what sounds like an officer involved shooting at Cedar and 36th street. There were chants to abolish the police. Lots of people out checking out the scene. I’d say there’s around 60-70 ppl pic.twitter.com/YMp0C4pKVM
— Alex Chhith (@AlexChhith) December 31, 2020
Protesters gathered Wednesday night after an officer-involved shooting earlier in the evening.
Minneapolis police officers shot and killed a man in an exchange of gunfire shortly after 6 p.m. after officers initiated a traffic stop on a felony crime suspect, Fox9 reported. The suspect fired first at police officers before they returned fire, the police chief said in a news conference.
The Star-Tribune reports witness statements at the scene indicate the suspect fired first at the officers who stopped him. The article states a bullet hole is visible in one of the police cars.
The police chief said the officers wore body cams and he would try to release the videos on Thursday. He pleaded with protesters to remain peaceful.
During the press conference, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said:
As chief, I recognize the trauma that our city has been under, and we want to do everything we can to maintain the peace. Our city has gone through too much. We need to keep our officers safe, we need to keep our community safe, and I tell you, we need to preserve that crime scene so that the facts can continue to come out as it relates to that.
The officers involved in the shooting are said to be part of the Community Response Team that focuses on high-crime areas.
Protesters grew more militant as the evening wore on. “Just had a snowball thrown at us. … This crowd is extremely close and hostile towards police. … If they choose to storm past us, we do not have the resources to hold this crowd back,” the local newspaper said, quoting police dispatch radio traffic.
The chanting now has some beat to it. This crowd has definitely growing mostly with curious neighbors pic.twitter.com/ckB1pKWdfP
— Alex Chhith (@AlexChhith) December 31, 2020
Now protestors are nearly toe to toe with police pic.twitter.com/PU2IsuM2IW
— Alex Chhith (@AlexChhith) December 31, 2020
By 9:40, protesters built a fire in the middle of an intersection.
Protesters have built a fire to warm themselves at the center of the intersection. It’s reminiscent of the 4th precinct occupation following the death of Jamar Clark in 2015. pic.twitter.com/zyWIOOV4b0
— Liz Sawyer (@ByLizSawyer) December 31, 2020
Story cited here.