National Guard activated in Minneapolis after homicide suspect's reported suicide

Justine Coleman
The Hill
Thu, 27 Aug 2020 00:01 UTC

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) activated the National Guard in Minneapolis after police said misinformation about a homicide suspect's suicide sparked protests Wednesday night.

Walz announced the deployment of the National Guard and a peacetime emergency in the city late Wednesday. At a press briefing early Thursday morning, he did not specify how many service members were being deployed, The Associated Press reported.

"We once again see the unrest on our streets. And not just Minnesota but as a nation, this pain continues on," Walz said at the briefing.

"Minneapolis, it's time to heal. We must rebuild and recover. Dangerous, unlawful behavior will not be tolerated," he added in a statement released before the press conference.

The Minnesota State Patrol also sent out about 150 troopers and all available metro area state troopers to respond to the riots, the governor said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) issued a citywide curfew to last until 6 a.m. on Thursday "to mitigate against risks of further damage to life and property" and allow essential and government operations to continue.

The incident that ignited the demonstrations involved the death of an unidentified Black man suspected in a homicide. Police said as they approached the man, he shot himself in front of a mall, and the Minneapolis Police Department released surveillance video that confirmed the police account, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said rumors on social media led to demonstrations and looting in the downtown area of the city, according to the AP. Fireworks, thrown bottles and gunshots were reported.

Minnesota Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said during the governor's briefing that arrests were being made. But Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said the number of arrests would not be available until Thursday morning, the AP reported.

Elder told the AP that one officer was hospitalized with a serious but not life-threatening injury.

Minneapolis became the center of racial injustice demonstrations after the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, on May 25. Floyd's death inspired protests around the world, including in the city, where demonstrators burned a police precinct down.

Wednesday night's protests also come as demonstrations have broken out in Kenosha, Wis., since the Sunday police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, who was left at least temporarily paralyzed from the waist down.

Comment: More from Fox News:

A suspected gunman fatally shot himself Wednesday as Minneapolis police were moving in to arrest him for a slaying committed hours earlier, sparking looting in the downtown area, police told Fox News.

The man was with a female at a parking garage around 2 p.m. when they encountered another man, Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said. The couple got into a confrontation with the man, who was fatally shot by the man who was with the woman.

The couple fled on foot but the woman was taken into custody by police a short time later. Authorities searched for the suspected gunman and found him just after 6 p.m. in the Nicollet Mall area, a shopping and dining district in the downtown area.

"As officers approached, he produced a handgun and shot himself," Elder told Fox News.

Surveillance footage of the shooting showed the man shooting himself near a group of people.

Officers did not open fire, he said.

Looting inside downtown businesses occurred after the shooting, Elder said, but no details were available. Officers were beginning to make arrests, he said. Videos posted to social media appeared to show people smashing windows and breaking into businesses to steal merchandise.

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Police Chief Medaria Arradondo dispelled misinformation that his officers were involved in the suicide death, saying it was not officer-related.

"I will not allow to add more trauma to a city that's still grieving from May 25," referencing the death of George Floyd, whose death while in Minneapolis police custody sparked ongoing nationwide protests and riots.

He said one officer was injured, but not seriously.

Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson told reporters downtown that deputies were assisting the Minneapolis Police Department. He urged people to go home and obtain the facts of the case before jumping to conclusions about what happened hours earlier.

"When the police do things wrong we need to hold them accountable, but this is not the case," he told reporters. "We as the police, the Sheriff's Office did nothing wrong tonight."

Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency Wednesday night and said the National Guard and 150 Minnesota State Patrol troopers were being mobilized to assist local law enforcement.

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