Vehicle set ablaze in Brooklyn Center on third night of rioting
FOX News senior correspondent Mike Tobin joins 'FOX News @ Night' with the latest from Twin Cities suburb
Kim Potter, the former Minnesota police officer charged in the shooting death of a Black motorist, was released from jail Wednesday, according to jail records.
Potter was released from a Hennepin County jail just before 5:40 p.m. after posting a $100,000 bond.
She faces a second-degree manslaughter charge days after shooting 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a Sunday traffic stop, just a few miles from where George Floyd died while in Minneapolis police custody.
Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force and former head of the police union, resigned from the Brooklyn Center police force Tuesday, along with its former chief.
The killing renewed protests, along with riots and looting, in Minneapolis and its surrounding suburbs, that came after Floyd's death. On Tuesday night, authorities in Brooklyn Center made more than 60 arrests for rioting and other offenses during protests.
Officers took people into custody for "riot and other criminal behaviors," Minnesota State Patrol Colonel Matt Langer said in a news conference early Wednesday morning. "The behaviors that we continue to see are unacceptable and we are not going to tolerate them ...It is not acceptable and it will not be tolerated if you choose to do criminal activity and destroy property and throw objects and make it unsafe for people to come and exercise their First Amendment rights."
Langer said he didn't have the exact numbers of how many had been arrested.
Some of the rioters had thrown projectiles, including bricks and bottles, at officers, Booker Hodges, an assistant commissioner for the Minnesota Department for Public Safety, said.
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"Unfortunately again, some citizens decided to come out and throw these bricks and these other items at law enforcement and this type of behavior is not acceptable and we're just, quite frankly, not going to tolerate it," Hodges said.
Fox News reporter Mike Tobin said the makeup of protesters changed vastly on Tuesday night - and some identified as Antifa.
"On Sunday night it was all about the locals that were here and they were genuine and they were angry. As it goes on, you get more people coming in from out of town," he told Laura Ingraham. "I had a lot of people - several people I spoke with tonight – who identified themselves as Antifa and angrily so."
Police used flash-bang grenades and riot gas as some protesters shook the fence that was erected around the police station and at least one neighbor who lived in a nearby apartment complained the riot gas was seeping into her home, according to the Star Tribune.
A demonstrator faces off with police outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department while protesting the shooting death of Daunte Wright, late Tuesday, April 13, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minn. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
The protesters, who took to the streets for the third straight night Tuesday, also called for an independent investigation in Wright's shooting.
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Police in Brooklyn Center declared an unlawful assembly Tuesday as the curfew went into effect at 10 p.m., telling protesters they would be arrested if they remained.
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No looting or burglaries related to the protests were reported Tuesday, according to Minneapolis Deputy Police Chief Amelia Huffman, the Tribune reported, as there had been on Sunday and Monday.
Protesters shield themselves with umbrellas amid smoke from chemical irritants outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department, days after Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, U.S. April 13, 2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Langer said there were many peaceful protests during the day but once night fell the situation "devolved."
"As the evening unfolded, the event devolved and became more contentious, tension rose and once again we saw groups choose to actively begin trying to compromise the fence that is securing the police department, began throwing objects…started with the fireworks, started with lasers being pointed and started with activities that lead toward a riot."
Demonstrators use umbrellas as shields against police during a clash outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department while protesting the shooting death of Daunte Wright, late Tuesday, April 13, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minn. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
The protest follows the resignation of Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon and Potter.
"We want an independent body to investigate police killings and not the [Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension]," attorney and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong said, according to the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.
National Guardsmen stand behind a fenced perimeter as demonstrators gather near the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, to protest Sunday's fatal shooting of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minn. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
She said she has spoken to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz about proposing several bills aimed at police accountably: "Ending qualified immunity is an example … to stop killing people on the taxpayer's dollars," she said.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified Potter late Monday as the officer seen in released body-camera footage firing a single round at Wright. Gannon said he made the call to release the footage and said he believed the female officer intended to reach for her Taser, but instead grabbed her handgun, categorizing the incident as an "accidental discharge."
Metal fencing was erected in front of Potter's Champlin, Minn., house and police have been posted there, according to the Wall Street Journal. Neighbors told the Journal they're on edge.
"We’re stressed, we’re nervous. I’ve been told some of the neighbors have left," the neighbor, who said she doesn't know Potter, told the newspaper. "It was a horrible situation. We also feel bad for Mr. Wright’s family."
Potter was reportedly not home.
On Tuesday evening, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in front of an FBI building in Brooklyn Center, Minn, according to images posted online. Some stood atop the FBI sign holding a banner that read: "Justice for Daunte Wright."
FAST FACTS
- Members of the violent far-left activist group Antifa identified themselves to a Fox News reporter who was on scene in Brooklyn Center, Minn., ahead of another night of unrest
- Potter, a 26-year veteran, had been on administrative leave following Sunday’s shooting
Tuesday's gathering marks the third consecutive night protesters have taken to the streets following the police-involved death of Wright.
It comes after Minnesota authorities arrested about 40 people after rioters and police clashed for a second night in Brooklyn Center, authorities said in a news conference early Tuesday.
Hundreds gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department Monday and defied curfew. They demanded justice for Wright.
Authorities fired tear gas, and flash-bang grenades into the crowd after warning them that they were in violation of curfew. Some rioters retaliated by throwing smoke canisters back toward law enforcement, while others launched fireworks at the police lines, according to reports.
Police shot and killed Wright during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb on Sunday. The bodycam footage showed three police officers gathered near a stopped car that was pulled over an expired registration. Police attempted to arrest Wright for an outstanding warrant, leading to a struggle, followed by the fatal shooting.
Protests have sometimes turned destructive and violent with tensions already high amid the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former officer accused in the alleged murder of George Floyd.
"Because you all showed up, Kim Potter doesn't have a job anymore," activist Toussaint Morrison said, according to the newspaper. "Kim Potter was a police officer longer than Daunte was alive. … You can't tell me that was an accident."
Follow below for more updates on the protests in Minnesota. Mobile users click here.
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