Four men were charged Monday, Nov. 30, 2015, in last week’s shooting of demonstrators protesting the killing of a black man by Minneapolis police, while the city’s mayor separately asked the protesters to end their weekslong encampment at a police precinct.
Advertisement
Allen Scarsella, 23, of Lakeville, is charged with one count of second-degree riot and five counts of second-degree assault. Joseph Martin Backman, 27, Nathan Wayne Gustavsson, 21, and Daniel Thomas Macey, 26, each face a single count of rioting.
Protest leaders, however, responded with a firm “no”, setting the stage for a potential clash between police and those outside the precinct building who’ve been demonstrating since the November 15 police shooting of Jamar Clark. Scarsella’s bail was set at $500,000; the other three men faced $250,000 bail each. All are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon.
After firing at protesters, authorities say, Scarsella called a police officer he was personally acquainted with and admitted that he had shot five people.
A search warrant says one of the men called an old high school friend who is a Mankato police officer and confessed to the shootings.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said that, while the crimes were overtly racist in nature, none of the suspects were charged with hate crimes because in Minnesota, hate crimes are considered a gross misdemeanor, and the assault and rioting charges carry more serious penalties.
Investigators have viewed a string of messages on 4Chan where participants discussed going to the Black Lives Matter protests to “stir things up” and “cause commotion”.
Police say Clark was fatally shot after struggling with officers.
Minnesota state police and the FBI are investigating Clark’s shooting.
“They are resilient. They inspire me a whole lot to see them and I can’t let them down either”.
The shooting occurred less than a day before national attention turned to Chicago after a police officer there was charged with murder for shooting a 17-year-old last year. “I could have been in the grave right now”, he said, adding no investigators have talked to him about the shooting.
In fact, if Hodges and her peers really want them to disband, perhaps the mayor should work harder to provide them tangible answers to their initial request: Release video surveillance that may show some of what happened involving Clark.
On Monday, Hodges and Ellison led a coalition of government officials, activists and clergy in asking that protesters leave the precinct.
The men have been described as “White supremacists” by protestors who were on the scene.
Some community members have alleged Clark was handcuffed when he was shot, which police have disputed.
Advertisement
The lawsuit alleges that when Schwarze worked for Richfield police he used a stun gun on a vehicle passenger during a December 2011 traffic stop. They also say they are going to do some “reverse cultural enriching” and “make the fire rise”.
