Rioters Set Fire, Loot in Minneapolis after Police Shoot Allegedly Armed Suspect

Brittany Bernstein
·2 min read
2

Rioters in Minneapolis broke windows, set a dumpster on fire and looted local businesses Thursday night after a police officer shot and killed a suspect who was wanted for unlawful possession of a firearm, according to reports.

The suspect, who was also reportedly a murder suspect, refused to follow commands from the U.S. Marshal Service taskforce, according to FOX 9 Minneapolis. The suspect pulled out a gun during the attempted arrest in a parking garage.

The officers then shot at the suspect, the report says. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

No Minneapolis police officers were involved, according to Reuters.

Following the shooting, a few dozen protesters reportedly gathered around a dumpster near the scene as it melted into a “puddle of fire,” according to KSTP-TV, tossing items into the dumpster to keep it burning while chanting anti-police slogans.

While police reportedly did not respond to the fire until 40 minutes after it was lit, firefighters eventually extinguished the flames.

Late into the night, a handful of rioters smashed windows of businesses and looted at least two stores, according to Rebecca Brannon, a local independent photojournalist.

Police were traveling from business to business to prevent looting, she said.

Meanwhile, rioters vandalized a building near the shooting scene with anti-police graffiti that said “Kill cops” and “No trial for them.”

Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters and arrested a number of rioters, Brannon reported.

The unrest comes a little more than a year after George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer set off months of unrest in cities nationwide. Former police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in April.

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