The four men charged in connection with a shooting last week at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in north Minneapolis made their first court appearances Tuesday afternoon. “They should have a hate crime and they should have disruptive of a protest”.
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A man shot in the leg at that November 23 shooting sat in the court room Tuesday. His buddies Joseph Backman, Nathan Gustavsson, and Daniel Macey were each charged with one count of armed riot. The men have not been charged with hate crimes.
“The defendants” own statements, their videos, show that these are sick people, ‘ Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said.
Some have returned to the 4th precinct to demand release of video footage capturing the police shooting of North Sider Jamar Clark on November 15.
The shooting occurred after a group of protesters challenged the men and tried to get them to leave, the complaint said.
Prosecutor Judith Hawley said the charges are extremely serious and asked for high bail. Bail was set at $500,000 for Scarsella and $250,000 each for the other defendants, according to the Associated Press.
Martin said the charges brought Monday are not enough. They are due back in court in January.
“He was shooting to make a point, ” Martin said.
In the anxious days after a black man’s death in the hands of Minneapolis cops, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison stood with protesters as they besieged a police station. The police union disputes that, saying that Clark struggled with officers and grabbed one of their guns. They are also demanding that the case not go before a grand jury, which, they say, typically exonerate police officers in fatal shooting cases.
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Scarsella’s phone also contained a stream of text messages discussing plans to disrupt the protest and livestream the confrontation.
