Saturday, June 05, 2021

Literal Dumpster Fire: Unrest Returns to Minneapolis

A wanted fugitive was shot and killed during a confrontation with a U.S. Marshals task force Thursday in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis, setting off an all-too-familiar situation in Minnesota's largest city overnight. 

Law enforcement officers were attempting to apprehend the suspect who "failed to comply and produced a handgun, resulting in task force members firing upon the subject," according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service.

Twin Cities CBS affiliate WCCO reported Friday morning that they identified the suspect as Winston Boogie Smith.

As Fox9 reported, "While the shooting did not involve Minneapolis police, tensions started to rise after 10 p.m. last night with some people starting a dumpster on fire."

And as Minneapolis faces a surge in gun violence after defunding law enforcement, "police and firefighters stayed away, letting the fire burn for more than an hour."

In one video from the scene, a woman with a young child clinging to her back is seen telling the gathered crowd to "stop burning s**t."

In addition to stoking fires with traffic cones and throwing toilet paper and police tape over stoplights, looting broke out as several groups smashed store windows including those of a Target and CVS Pharmacy.

Minneapolis police eventually arrived on the scene and, amid profane jeering from protestors and rioters, secured the area.

Minneapolis fire crews later showed up to extinguish what was left of the dumpster and debris.


The unrest and looting unfolded on the same day Minneapolis officials began the process of taking back the George Floyd autonomous zone that was set up more than one year ago.

 

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