Chaotic scenes continue to unfold in Minnesota’s Twin Cities as stirred-up crowds smash storefronts, loot merchandise and clash with law enforcement, following a police killing of an unarmed African-American man.
Videos shared on social media on Thursday showed looting at a number of businesses along St. Paul’s University Avenue. In one clip, a car is seen crashing through a closed bay door at a department store as a crowd pilfers a cell phone shop across the road.
A heavy police presence was also seen at a nearby Target store, where a line of squad cars and riot officers stood in front of the building to deter further looting. A crowd of protesters gathered in the store’s parking lot and hurled projectiles, breaking windows out of several police vehicles.
During L.A. uprisings I remember seeing national guard posted up on the roof of Ralphs (grocery store) to protect the store from getting sacked. Then and now, the protection of property is more valued than life. #GeorgeFloydhttps://t.co/R7oSlx82Dt
— Steven Renderos (@stevenrenderos) May 29, 2020
Similar events rage on in neighboring Minneapolis, where anti-police brutality protests over the killing of George Floyd erupted into full-blown riots on Wednesday night, spreading to St. Paul and other cities beyond the state since. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has activated National Guard units to bring the situation under control, however it doesn’t appear any guardsmen have yet been deployed to quell the unrest.
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