Minneapolis False Rumors Riot
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

False rumors of a
police shooting Following are lists of killings by law enforcement officers. * List of killings by law enforcement officers by country ** List of killings by law enforcement officers in Canada ** List of killings by law enforcement officers in China ** List o ...
resulted in
rioting A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...
,
arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
, and
looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
in the U.S. city of
Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
from August 2628, 2020. The events began as a reaction to the suicide of Eddie Sole Jr., a 38-year old black man who was being pursued by Minneapolis police officers for his alleged involvement in a homicide. At approximately 2 p.m. on August 26, Sole died after he shot himself in the head as officers approached to arrest him. False rumors quickly spread on social media that Minneapolis police officers had fatally shot Sole. To quell unrest, Minneapolis police released
closed-circuit television Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
surveillance footage that captured Sole's suicide, which was later confirmed by a
Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneapol ...
Medical Examiner's autopsy report. The August "false rumors" riot occurred as the city was still dealing with the
aftermath Aftermath may refer to: Companies * Aftermath (comics), an imprint of Devil's Due Publishing * Aftermath Entertainment, an American record label founded by Dr. Dre * Aftermath Media, an American multimedia company * Aftermath Services, an Americ ...
of the
George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...
and riots three months prior. Misinformation about the manner of Floyd's murder led to persistent mistrust between city residents and public officials. On the night of August 26, 2020, at least 132 people were arrested for violence and looting, as damage to 77 properties occurred in the
Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities ...
metropolitan region, including five buildings that were set on fire. Minnesota government officials amassed nearly 1,000 members of law enforcement and 400
Minnesota National Guard The Minnesota National Guard is a state-based military force of more than 13,000 soldiers and airmen, serving in 61 communities across the state. Operated in the U.S. state of Minnesota, it is reserve component of the National Guard. The Cons ...
troops took keep the peace. An 8 p.m. curfew was implemented on August 27, 2020, with 30 people being arrested in the first hour. During the duration of the curfew until it expired at 6 a.m. on August 28, over 100 people were arrested, including 80 for curfew violations. A
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
declaration and curfew orders expired on August 31. Three Minnesota residents were later convicted of federal charges for an arson attack on the
Target Corporation Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...
headquarters building the night of August 26. A Minneapolis man pled guilty to a state assault charge for striking an officer with an object during the riot.


Background

By August 2020, the downtown workforce in Minneapolis was at 85% of prior capacity, with many business closed and implementing
remote work Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...
due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, and with fewer people on the street there were concerns about the perceptions of crime and lack of police presence. The initial cause of
civil disorder Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, or social unrest is a situation arising from a mass act of civil disobedience (such as a demonstration, riot, strike, or unlawful assembly) in which law enforcement has difficulty ...
was the suicide of a
homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
suspect in downtown Minneapolis on August 26, 2020. The homicide was the 52nd of the year in the city. Many residents were still on edge from the
murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...
on May 25, 2020, when the
Minneapolis Police Department The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) is the primary law enforcement agency in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is also the largest police department in Minnesota. Formed in 1867, it is the second-oldest police department in Minnesot ...
had mischaracterized Floyd's death as due to "medical distress" in early statements about the incident. Protesters reacting to news of a new shooting death, that video later showed was a suicide, did not trust initial police accounts of the incident. Posts on
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
websites suggested that Minneapolis police were responsible for the man's death. The civil disorder also came as part of the larger
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
movement and protests against police brutality in 2020. Late at night on August 15, 2020, in Minneapolis, a group of approximately 50 people marched to the city's fifth police precinct station in what was initially described as a peaceful protest, but it became violent when people threw rocks at windows, threw paint on the building, and shot commercial-grade fireworks at police officers, before fleeing the scene. The August 23, 2020,
shooting of Jacob Blake On August 23, 2020, Jacob S. Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot and seriously injured by police officer Rusten Sheskey in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Sheskey shot Blake in the back four times and the side three times after Blake opened the driv ...
, an African American man, in
Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...
, by a police officer, led to protests and
unrest Unrest, also called disaffection, is a sociological phenomenon, including: * Civil unrest * Civil disorder * Domestic terrorism * Industrial unrest * Labor unrest * Rebellion * Riot * Strike action * State of emergency Notable historical instance ...
that spilled into Minnesota. On August 24, 2020, in
Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
, a 100-person protest over Blake's shooting took place in the city's downtown area, and after the main protest group disbanded, some protesters broke windows and threatened to breach a jail facility, resulting in 11 arrests. One Minneapolis police officer suffered a broken hand during a confrontation with a demonstrator.


Events


August 26

Eddie George Gordon, a 61-year-old from Rush City, Minnesota, died from multiple gunshot wounds while inside a
parking ramp A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...
near 10th Street North and Currie Avenue West at 2 p.m. on August 26, 2020, in
downtown Minneapolis The Central Minneapolis community is located in the central part of the city, consisting of 6 smaller official neighborhoods, and includes Downtown Minneapolis and the central business district. It also includes the many old flour mills, the ...
. Police sources believed he had been in an altercation with a man and woman, who both fled the scene on foot. Police apprehended the woman, but the man fled. At 6 p.m. the police had tracked him down on
Nicollet Avenue Nicollet Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Richfield, Bloomington, and Burnsville in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It passes through a number of locally well-known neighborhoods and districts, notably Eat Street in south Minneapolis an ...
and closed in for an arrest. The man was later identified as Eddie Sole Jr., a 38-year-old from Minneapolis. As police forces advanced to make an arrest, Sole Jr. shot himself in the head while standing on a sidewalk on the 800 block of Nicollet Avenue in the
Nicollet Mall Nicollet Mall is a twelve-block portion of Nicollet Avenue running through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is the shopping and dining district of the city, and also a pedestrian mall and transit mall. Along with Hennepin Aven ...
, just before officers reached him. Within an hour of the suicide a large crowd had gathered at the scene. The encounter between Sole Jr. and the police quickly sparked social media rumors about the manner of his death. At a Black Entrepreneur State Fair event on the other side of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
in Father Hennepin Bluff Park, nearly away from where the death occurred, a DJ announced to the crowd that police were covering up a death with a suicide story. A group marched across the Stone Arch Bridge to downtown to protest what they believed was a police shooting. That evening protesters swelled into the city's downtown area and reached what was estimated as a crowd of 500 people. In public statements, police denied that they had fired weapons at Sole Jr. during pursuit and released a surveillance video of his suicide to quell rumors that it was an officer involved shooting.Levenson, Michael (August 26, 2020)
"Minneapolis Homicide Suspect’s Suicide Spurs More Protests, Police Say"
. ''New York Times''. Retrieved on August 27, 2020.
Minneapolis Police Chief
Medaria Arradondo Medaria Arradondo is an American law enforcement official who served as the Chief of the Minneapolis Police Department from 2017 until 2022. He was the first black chief of the Minneapolis Police Department. Career A fifth-generation Minnesot ...
sent text messages to several racial justice advocates seeking help in circulating the video, such as to
Nekima Levy Armstrong Nekima Valdez Levy Armstrong (' Levy-Pounds, c. 1976) is an American lawyer and social justice activist. She served as president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP from 2015 to 2016. She has led a variety of organizations that focus on iss ...
who attempted to contain the spread of false information. However, some in the crowd downtown began breaking windows at nearby businesses, resulting in property destruction and looting at many stores and restaurants.Hyatt, Kim, Simons, Abby Walsh, Paul (August 27, 2020)
"Curfew expires, daylight exposes rioting's scars in downtown Minneapolis"
. ''
Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...
''. August 27, 2020.
As the scene downtown became more violent, some in the crowd urged others stop the destruction, including a person on a megaphone who shouted, "We have the video — the man killed himself!" At 9:30 p.m. Minneapolis Mayor
Jacob Frey Jacob Lawrence Frey ( ; born July 23, 1981) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota since 2018. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, he served on the Minneapolis City C ...
publicly requested assistance from the Minnesota National Guard to restore order. Minnesota Governor
Tim Walz Timothy James Walz ( ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician and retired educator. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. Born in West Point, Nebraska, Walz ...
activated troops just before 11:00 p.m. and the first troops arrived downtown just before midnight. Frey imposed a citywide curfew overnight, and both Walz and Frey declared a state of emergency. Destruction overnight reached a total of 72 property locations in Minneapolis and four locations in neighboring
Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
. In Minneapolis, five businesses were set on fire, including a downtown restaurant and three other businesses located miles away from the city's downtown area. Two residents had to be rescued off the second story of a building after the China Wok
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
restaurant caught fire. The rioting in downtown Minneapolis mostly stretched along
Nicollet Mall Nicollet Mall is a twelve-block portion of Nicollet Avenue running through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is the shopping and dining district of the city, and also a pedestrian mall and transit mall. Along with Hennepin Aven ...
from 5th to 12th streets, though it spread to a gas station and liquor store near
Loring Park Loring Park is a park in the Loring Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. History Loring Park was established in 1883 after the passage of the Park Act, which first created the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. The park was first ...
. Several people broke into the Target Corporation headquarters building and lit a fire in the mailroom and at the entrance way. The rioting also an effect beyond downtown Minneapolis. Several businesses in south Minneapolis, Uptown, and
Dinkytown Dinkytown is a commercial district within the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Centered at 14th Avenue Southeast and 4th Street Southeast, the district contains several city blocks occupied by various small businesses, restau ...
were vandalized and looted, as was a liquor store in the suburb of Brooklyn Park. Two Minneapolis police officers were seriously injured during the unrest and hospitalized, but the injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. One of the injuries, captured on a bystander's video, showed an officer being hit in the head by a trash can lid and becoming unconscious. Some bystanders cheered when the object hit the officer.


August 27–28

To prevent further rioting and looting, officials put in place a curfew on Thursday, August 27, 2020, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday, August 28, 2020. Nearly 1,000 members of law enforcement and 400 Minnesota National Guard troops amassed in the metro area to prevent additional crime. Thirty people were arrested between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Thursday for violating the curfew, with 50 additional people arrested for curfew violations during the following hours between Thursday night and Friday morning. At least 27 people were arrested and charged for other crimes during the rioting, including burglary, arson, assault, and drug possession. State and local officials declined to issue a new curfew after the curfew expired at 6 a.m. on Friday, August 28. However, Minneapolis city officials extended the state of emergency to 8 a.m. on Monday, August 31. National Guard troops and law enforcement were kept mobilized. On August 28, 2020, the
Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneapol ...
Medical Examiner's Office identified the person who shot themselves as Eddie Sole Jr., a 38-year old black man from Minneapolis. The examiner listed his manner of death as a suicide.


August 29–31

After beginning on Wednesday night, August 26, 2020, the state of emergency ended at 8 a.m. on Monday, August 31, 2020.


Aftermath


Suicide video controversy

As protesters gathered in downtown Minneapolis the evening of August 26, 2020, the
Minneapolis Police Department The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) is the primary law enforcement agency in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is also the largest police department in Minnesota. Formed in 1867, it is the second-oldest police department in Minnesot ...
sent out a message via the
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
website that contained an embedded video: "*WARNING: This video contains graphic images. This evening, a murder suspect committed suicide as police approached them at 8th & Nicollet. No officer weapons were fired. This is a tragedy for our community that is still hurting." Release of the video generated controversy though allowable under a set special circumstances in
Minnesota Statutes Minnesota Statutes are a compilation of the official laws of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Minnesota Statutes comprise only of the general and permanent laws of the state. The Office of the Revisor of Statutes publishes a complete set of statutes ...
. Some Minneapolis officials believed that quick release of the video was necessary to stop rumors of a police shooting. City officials had to weigh pain of people seeing the graphic content with their intention of stopping rioting and looting. Minneapolis police and many media outlets took down postings of the video later in the evening on August 26, 2020.


Property damage

Seventy-seven properties were damaged during the unrest. A report by the ''
Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...
'' tracked damage to 72 properties in Minneapolis, including five with fire damage, and damage to four properties in Saint Paul. Most damage occurred on Nicollet Mall between 5th and 2th streets. A liquor store in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park was also looted during the period of unrest. The five Minneapolis businesses set on fire on August 26, 2020, included the Target Corporation building, Brits Pub on the
Nicollet Mall Nicollet Mall is a twelve-block portion of Nicollet Avenue running through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is the shopping and dining district of the city, and also a pedestrian mall and transit mall. Along with Hennepin Aven ...
in downtown, and three businesses in
south Minneapolis The U.S. city of Minneapolis is officially defined by the Minneapolis City Council as divided into eleven communities, each containing multiple official neighborhoods. Informally, there are city areas with colloquial labels. Residents may also ...
a Tires Plus store, a
Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, an ...
drug store, and the China Wok restaurant. It was unclear to investigators if the fire at China Wok was directly related to the unrest or not. The south Minneapolis area had also been at the epicenter of heavy rioting after Floyd's murder in late May 2020, including where a police station was torched. Officials believed that their experience with the unrest in the days after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 led to a speedier response during the August 2020 events that distinguished people protesting peacefully and those causing destruction. Following Floyd's murder, more than 1,500 property locations in MinneapolisSaint Paul were damaged or destroyed by rioting. At the time of the August 2020 unrest, downtown Minneapolis businesses were said to be struggling from closures related to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and unrest. For the dozens of business that were broken into and looted, the August riot was considered another challenging economic setback. The ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...
'' speculated that the unrest and rioting in Minneapolis in 2020 could mark a decades-long period of stagnation and decline, similar to what cities such as
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, and
Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...
experienced after historic unrest. Dozens of businesses closed temporarily during the unrest. Kam Talebi, owner of the downtown Brit's Pub, remarked on August 27, 2020, about broader conversations to address the unrest in Minneapolis, "I hope within that there's a priority of safety for residents and the businesses. It's just tough to be able to operate right now in downtown Minneapolis." Brit's Pub was looted and much of the interior destroyed by fire. It reopened seven months later, in March 2021, after extensive clean up and refurbishing. In 2022, Wild Greg's Saloon restaurant in downtown closed and cited the riots in 2020 as one of several factors negatively affecting business activity. The non-profit organization Agate Housing and Services announced in late 2022 a $25 million redevelopment project to convert the former China Wok restaurant property on the 2800 block of 27th Avenue South in Minneapolis into a homeless shelter and group home.


Investigations and legal proceedings


Homicide investigation

The investigation into the homicide of Eddie George Gordon revealed that he had been in an altercation with Eddie Sole Jr. and an unnamed woman around 2 p.m. on August 26, 2020, in the Ramp A parking garage in downtown Minneapolis. Sole Jr. pulled out a gun and shot Gordon in the head. By August 31, 2020, police sources were not sure what provoked the incident. Both men had connections to the
Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
's Harbor Light Center
homeless shelter Homeless shelters are a type of homeless service agency which provide temporary residence for homeless individuals and families. Shelters exist to provide residents with safety and protection from exposure to the weather while simultaneously r ...
next door to the parking garage, with Gordon making occasional night stays since 2017 and Sole Jr. calling it his home for the past two-and-a-half years. It was also unclear to investigators why Sole Jr. shot himself as officers closed in.


Target Corporation building arson attack

Three men from the
Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...
metropolitan area were indicted in
United States district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
for setting fires at the downtown headquarters of the
Target Corporation Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...
on the evening of August 26, 2020. Federal authorities said the fire caused $1 million in damages. Shador T.C. Jackson, a 24-year old from
Richfield, Minnesota Richfield is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling. An inner ring suburb of Minneapolis, it is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Minn ...
, was accused of using a construction sign to break the glass entrance to the building. Several people went inside the building during the rioting. Jackson intentionally set a fire on a counter in the mailroom and Victor D. Edwards, a 31-year old from Saint Paul, Minnesota, added liquid accelerant to it. Leroy L.P. Williams, a 34-year old from Minneapolis, also entered the mailroom. Williams was a relative Eddie George Gordon who was shot and killed earlier in the day, beginning the manhunt that led to the unrest. Surveillance video captured the three men fleeing the mailroom. Williams allegedly returned to the Target building and attempted to start another fire at its entrance. Prior to the incident, all three defendants had felony records in Minnesota for violent crimes. Jackson and Williams pled guilty to conspiracy to commit arson in connection to the August 26, 2020, incident. Jackson was sentenced in June 2021 to 33 months in prison. Williams' sentence was pending as of late 2021. The charge against Edwards went before a federal trial. Authorities alleged that Edwards had illegally entered and looted several downtown businesses and participated in acts of arson at the Target Corporation and possibly at Brit's Pub. After a four-day trial, the jury on August 12, 2021, convicted Edwards on one count of riot and one count of arson. On December 29, 2021, he was sentenced to 9 1⁄3 months in prison and ordered to pay $941,682.28 in
restitution The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court o ...
.


Local arrests and criminal charges

State and local officials arrested at least 132 people during the unrest that featured looting, reports of shots fired, thrown bottles at police, and the discharge of commercial grade
fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
. Of those arrested, 27 were charged by Hennepin County officials, all of whom were Minnesota residents, with home addresses in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, several suburban cities, and Saint Cloud. Four of the arrests were of people who allegedly broke into the Pixie Liquor store in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, during the unrest. Two of the people charged were for assault of police officers who responded to the riots. Brayshaun Gibson, a 28-year-old man from Minneapolis, was charged for burglary and for assaulting a police officer by throwing a 15-pound metal garbage can lid and knocking him unconscious on August 26. The injured officer allegedly had a connection to Gibson whose vehicle was also involved in a recent burglary. Gibson said that he was eating at downtown restaurant and became angry when learning of the rumors of a possible police shooting, and he regretted being involved in the ensuing chaos. The officer was hospitalized for possible spinal injuries and underwent continued treatment and therapy after being released. Gibson pled guilty in Hennepin County court on November 15, 2021. As part of the plea deal, several other riot and burglary charges against Gibson were dropped. Gibson was sentenced on January 5, 2022, to one year of
house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
with
electronic monitoring Electronic tagging is a form of surveillance that uses an electronic device affixed to a person. In some jurisdictions, an electronic tag fitted above the ankle is used for people as part of their bail or probation conditions. It is also used in ...
.


See also

* 2020–2021 Minneapolis–Saint Paul racial unrest *
List of incidents of civil unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul Protest events and episodes of civil disorder have occurred throughout the history of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota. This list includes notable instances of civil unrest in the cities of Minneapolis or ...


References


Further reading

* City of Minneapolis (August 27, 2020).
Curfew in place tonight Aug. 27; stay home
. ''GovDelivery''. Retrieved December 1, 2021. *Martin, Marti (August 28, 2020).
After the rioting — looking for reasons, praying for peace and justice
. ''
MinnPost ''MinnPost'' is a nonprofit online newspaper in Minneapolis, founded in 2007, with a focus on Minnesota news. Funding ''MinnPosts initial funding of $850,000 came from four families: John and Sage Cowles, Lee Lynch and Terry Saario, Joel and ...
''. Retrieved August 27, 2021. *Nimtz, August (October 16, 2020).
The disturbing lessons from the downtown Minneapolis’ youth riot
. ''
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder The ''Minnesota SpokesmanRecorder'' is an African-American, English-language newspaper headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and serves readers in the Twin Cities. Founded in 1934 by Cecil Earle Newman (who remained editor until his death in ...
''. Retrieved May 24, 2021.


External links

*''New York Post'
article on August 27, 2020
with embedded video of the suicide (Warning: Graphic Content) *''United States v. Edwards''
Case No. 20-cr-282
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minneapolis false rumors riot, 2020 2020 controversies in the United States 2020 in Minnesota 2020 protests 2020 riots 2020–2021 Minneapolis–Saint Paul racial unrest 2020–2021 United States racial unrest 2020s in Minneapolis 21st century in Saint Paul, Minnesota African-American-related controversies African-American riots in the United States Anti-black racism in the United States Anti-racism Arson in the 2020s Arson in the United States August 2020 crimes in the United States August 2020 events in the United States Black Lives Matter Civil rights protests in the United States Criminal justice reform in the United States Criticism of police brutality History of African-American civil rights Law enforcement controversies in the United States Mass media-related controversies in the United States Minneapolis–Saint Paul Race and crime in the United States Riots and civil disorder in Minnesota