Five protesters were shot after the white men stormed the Black Lives Matter rally, police believe.
Police have filed charges against four men accused of opening fire on Black Lives Matter protesters in Minnesota.
The shooting happened near Minneapolis’ 4th Precinct as they protested the fatal shooting by police of Jamar Clark. Police have charged Allen “Lance” Scarsella of Lakeville with five counts of second-degree assault and one count of second-degree riot, for which he faces a minimum of 18 years in prison if he is convicted, according to an Associated Press report.
Police say Scarsella has admittedly to shooting the five protesters, none of whom suffered life-threatening wounds.
Police have charged three other men: 26-year-old Daniel Macey of Pine City, 27-year-old Joseph Backman of Eagan, and 21-year-old Nathan Wayne Gustavsson of Hermantown. Each received a charge of second-degree riot with a dangerous weapon, which carries a minimum of three years in prison.
A video was uncovered of Scarsella and another man made a video when they were on their way to the BLM protest showing them waving a handgun and making racial comments about the protesters. The other man in the video opted not to return four days later to the encampment of protesters after concerns about how dangerous it would be. Scarsella and the others would get into a fight with protesters on the night of Nov. 23, which resulted in the gunshots.
Scarsella has a Facebok page that prominently features an early version of the Confederate flag, and he also had racist images on his phone. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman called them “sick people,” according to the AP report.
Of the four who were charged, three are white and one is Asian.
The protests have focused on the shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark on Nov. 15. Police said they found Clark interfering with paramedics who were treating an injured woman, leading to a fight that resulted in the shooting of Clark in the head. Some have claimed Clark was handcuffed at the time, but police deny this.
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