Black Lives Matter Protesters Shot: 3 White Men, 1 Asian Man Charged, Allegedly Shooting 5 Black Protesters
Four men have been charged in connection to the shooting that took place at a Black Lives Matter protest last week that left five people wounded.
The shooting occurred on the night of Nov. 23, as demonstrators were protesting the police shooting of Jamar Clark at the Fourth Precinct. That's when "white supremacists" showed up to the rally "in an act of domestic terrorism," said the local Black Lives Matter group in a Facebook post, according to Newsweek.
On Monday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced in a press conference that alleged gunman Allen "Lance" Scarsella, 23, has been charged with five counts of second-degree assault and one charge of second-degree riot, reports NBC News.
In addition, Joseph Daniel Backman, 27, Nathan Wayne Gustavsson, 21, and Daniel Thomas Macey, 26, were each charged with one count of second-degree riot, said Freeman. Police described Macey as Asian and the other men as white. Freeman added that believes the shooting was racially motivated.
"The language they use and how they talk about fellow Americans, citizens, people -- is just not acceptable," Freeman said.
Scarsella was being held on $500,000 bail while the other three men each were being held on $250,000 bail, Freeman said.
According to a woman named Jie Wronski-Riley, the shooting occurred around 10:45 p.m. after the men showed up at the rally and began antagonizing peaceful protesters. About a dozen protesters attempted to herd the group away from the area, said Noor, and the gunman "opened fire on about six protesters," hitting five of them about a block away from the precinct station. The attackers then fled the scene.
Protesters have been demonstrating at the Fourth Precinct even since Clark, a 24-year-old unarmed black man, was fatally shot by two Minneapolis police on Sunday, Nov. 15. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released a statement saying that Clark was a suspect in a domestic violence case and that he interfered when first responders arrived on the scene, reports The Atlantic. "At some point during an altercation that ensued between the officers and Mr. Clark, an officer discharged his weapon, striking Mr. Clark," said state authorities.
However, several eye witnesses say Clark was handcuffed and lying flat on his stomach when he was shot in the head.
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