Nearly a dozen agitators were arrested late Monday night and early Tuesday morning after smashing through the windows of a jail in downtown Minneapolis and threatening to breach security, according to authorities.
Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson said deputies arrested 11 individuals outside the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center after a “demonstration turned destructive.” The 11 demonstrators are being held on probable cause riot, damage to property, and unlawful assembly.
It’s unclear why the individuals were attempting to break into the jail, though there were reports of several fellow agitators being arrested earlier in the night.
Demonstrators broke windows at the detention center and threatened to breach the security of the jail, Hutchinson said in a statement released Monday. One police officer suffered a broken hand during an altercation with the rioters. He said the crowd outside the detention center didn’t disperse until around 1:00 a.m. after police made the arrests.
Rioters just broke a window at the Hennepin county jail in Downtown Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/8IWqu7qH3p
— Mill City Citizen Media (@millcitycitizen) August 25, 2020
“We fully support peaceful protests, but we cannot – and will not – allow demonstrators to destroy property or jeopardize the safety and security of our inmates, our deputies and our jail,” Sheriff Hutchinson said.
Footage recorded about one hour ago at the Hennepin county jail in Downtown Minneapolis just before windows were broken by rioters. pic.twitter.com/1QNY1S9Qkn
— Mill City Citizen Media (@millcitycitizen) August 25, 2020
Hundreds of protesters had gathered earlier in the evening outside the Hennepin County Government Center for a “solidarity rally” in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Blake’s father said Tuesday that his son is paralyzed from the waist down and has “eight holes” in his body, the Associated Press reported.
Alpha News was on the ground during Monday night’s protest, but was forced to leave the scene after our reporter was harassed and eventually assaulted by a group of agitators.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.