79 People Arrested Following Third Night Of Protests Over Daunte Wright's Killing
UPDATE (12:00 p.m. Wednesday): By the end of Tuesday night, officials from Operation Safety Net said 79 people were arrested, as for the third night in a row protesters clashed with police in Brooklyn Center over the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.
Two people who attended the protest on Tuesday night returned Wednesday morning, looking for a cellphone which got lost in the shuffle overnight. They had driven from Rochester to protest.
"I'm tired of this, we've been doing this since the 1950s, I'm tired of it. It's too much. It's time for them to hear us, we've heard them long enough," said one man. "We're not going to keep getting stepped on no more."
"You know when the police came and approached us, we was with another Black man right, you know they walked straight past me and went up to these two," said the woman who was with him.
The protest officially ended at 7 p.m., but some people stayed, which is when tensions grew. Around 9 p.m., a group tried to knock down a fence; some threw bottles, bricks, cans at officers. Officers then ordered protesters to leave ahead of curfew kicking in at 10 p.m.
"We encourage you to be peaceful and exercise your First Amendment right, it is not acceptable and it will not be tolerated if you choose to come and do criminal activity and destroy property and throw objects, and make it unsafe," said Col. Matt Langer with Minnesota State Patrol.
There is no official word from cities about a curfew for Wednesday night. There is another rally scheduled outside of the police station at 5 p.m.
UPDATE (5:30 a.m. Wednesday): Law enforcement began arresting people for unlawful assembly after nightfall, when tensions rose and some people attempted to knock down a fence outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department.
Between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Officers arrested dozens of people, who were booked into the Hennepin County Jail. The city's curfew went into effect at 10 p.m. and will be lifted at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.
"We stopped the violence before it gets super out of control," Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson told reporters overnight. "It's safer for the community, the whole city of Brooklyn Center."
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- For the third night in a row, people gathered outside of the Brooklyn Center Police Department Tuesday to protest the police killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright.
The officer who fatally shot Wright during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon, Kim Potter, resigned from the department Tuesday, as did Police Chief Tim Gannon.
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput, who has been asked to handle potential prosecution in Wright's death to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, said he expects to make a charging decision Wednesday.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department for a Justice for Daunte Wright rally Tuesday evening. The group marched to the FBI building in Brooklyn Center, then back to the police department, chanting, waving flags and displaying signs along the way.
Just before 9 p.m. -- still one hour before curfew began in Brooklyn Center -- tensions began to rise, with some people trying to knock down a fence. Law enforcement started to give dispersal orders for unlawful assembly. Officials with the public safety coalition Operation Safety Net (OSN) ordered members of the media to move to the north of the BCPD building.
State patrol telling group to disperse for unlawful assemble and are continuing flash bangs. Group largely staying put pic.twitter.com/E0ef9RqCcl
— Erin Hassanzadeh WCCO (@erinreportsTV) April 14, 2021
Police began arresting protesters just before 9:10 p.m. About a half-hour later, a second dispersal notice was given, with OSN officials saying in a tweet that "members of the crowd are trying to take down fencing, spraying mace at officers, shooting fireworks at officers, and throwing bottles and bricks."
WCCO's Mike Max says the majority of the crowd -- hundreds of people -- dispersed by 10 p.m., with a handful of people remaining as light snow fell in the area.
Every time state patrol tells protestors in Brooklyn Center to leave people sitting in their cars on the periphery lay on their horns #DaunteWright pic.twitter.com/R000rR8XTA
— Erin Hassanzadeh WCCO (@erinreportsTV) April 14, 2021
About 30 minutes later, people set a fire in the middle of Humboldt Avenue with wood sitting outside of a nearby gas station. Within about three minutes, WCCO's Erin Hassanzadeh says law enforcement "came out of nowhere" and surrounded the remaining crowd in a rapid and intense show of force, causing dozens to flee.
BREAKING: Law enforcement just suddenly blocked protestors near the BCPD in from the side many were exiting from, trapping the protestors after hours of telling the crowd to disperse. Dozens of protestors were in that perimeter.
— Erin Hassanzadeh WCCO (@erinreportsTV) April 14, 2021
According to OSN officials, 34 people were arrested for unlawful assembly Monday night. Outside of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, officers fired tear gas and "less lethal" rounds at protesters after multiple dispersal orders.
Though the countywide curfews enacted Monday night were not repeated Tuesday, several metro cities put their own curfews in place.