BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. – Authorities made 79 during street protests Wednesday night over the shooting death of Daunte Wright by a police officer. Most were arrests were at the Brooklyn Center police headquarters, but there were lesser confrontations elsewhere in the Twin Cities. It was the fourth night of protests. Arrests began about 9:30 p.m. as tensions built ahead of a 10 p.m. curfew. Colonel Matt Langer of the State Patrol, speaking for the multi-agency Operation Safety Net, said some protesters threw bottles, bricks and other objects at officers and sprayed them with mace. Many in the crowd carried umbrellas, which they opened as make-shift shield against chemical irritants that police sprayed at them. Police and Safety Net soldiers, in full riot gear, also used flash-bangs and rubber bullets as they advanced in shoulder-to-shoulder cordons to force protesters to disperse. The crowd began thinning about midnight.
Verbatim
Langer at post-riot news conference: “The behaviors we continue to see are unacceptable, and we are not going to tolerate them. We encourage you to be peaceful and come and exercise your First Amendment rights. It is not acceptable and will not be tolerated if you choose to come and do criminal activity and destroy property and throw objects and make it unsafe for people to come and exercise your First Amendment rights.”
Operation Safety Net
Arrests by agencies:
Minnesota State Patrol: 73
Minneapolis Police: 5
Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office: 1