Black Lives Matter protesters in Minneapolis say the attackers should be charged with terrorism.
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The Minneapolis NAACP says it too will stand up for those protesting. The Minneapolis public housing authority said campfire smoke was affecting air quality in a nearby 84-unit senior high rise.
Freeman noted it is possible that federal charges could be brought. In the criminal complaint announced Monday, the man in the video with Scarsella is identified as “J.S.”, and it appears as though he spoke with investigators and is not being charged with any crime, though he collaborated with all of the defendants ahead of the shootings.
The other men, Joseph Backman, 27; Nathan Gustavsson, 21; and Daniel Macey, 26, have each been charged with second-degree rioting.
Lt. Bob Kroll, the head of the Minneapolis police union, has said Clark had his hands on an officer’s gun. All of the shooting victims are black men, ages ranging from 19 to 43. The shootings of five protesters November 23 added yet another complex factor.
Scarsella is being held on a $500,000 bail, and the other three on $250,000 bail.
The above item has been corrected to show that Allen Lawrence Scarsella is 23, not 22. A criminal complaint says that Scarsella is the one who fired the shots that injured the protesters. He said city officials can do what they want, but protesters aren’t leaving. He says he’s staying.
Clark, 24, died in a confrontation with police who were responding to an assault call in which Clark was a suspect. Some who said they saw the shooting allege he was handcuffed, which police dispute.
Mayor Betsy Hodges said Monday the protest should end. During a snowy Monday morning, about seven campfires were burning to warm those who were milling about.
Prosecutors in Minneapolis charged four men Monday in connection with a shooting last week that left five people wounded at a protest sparked by the killing of a black man by police. No one had life-threatening wounds. All of the men are now being held in the Hennepin County jail. Additional details weren’t immediately available. Three of the suspects are white, one is of Asian descent.
Ellison, who previously spoke at the protests – calling for change after a photo surfaced of police with guns drawn at his son peacefully protesting at the Fourth Precinct, echoed Hodges’ sentiments and called for the occupation to end.
According to demonstrators, four masked men arrived at the scene and started filming them. They are all in their 20s.
One of the officers involved was sued just 10 days before Clark’s death, for allegedly using excessive force during an arrest four years ago. The case was moved last Tuesday from Hennepin County District Court to U.S. District Court.
Coalition members also said they are concerned that Plymouth Avenue has been barricaded, often by firewood, which cuts emergency vehicle and snow plow access.
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The city’s 4th Precinct, on the north side not far from where Clark was shot, is the focus of an enduring protest distinguished by almost two dozen tents and canopies, the haze of portable fire pits and tables loaded with a steady stream of donated food.
