OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
Federal and local investigators urged calm in the Twin Cities Thursday as violent demonstrations raged over the death of George Floyd, according to Fox News.
“Now, wait a second,” Tucker Carlson of Fox News began. “That didn’t look like a political rally. Those people look like looters. They were smashing cash registers with hammers to steal other people’s money.”
“Well, yes, technically they were doing that,” Tucker continued. “And yes, as a factual matter, they were smashing the cash registers because they had already stolen everything else in the store. So no, it doesn’t look like conventional political activism.”
Charges have not been announced against the officers involved in the case.
“It’s imperative that the community understands how seriously we are taking this,” U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald said during a news conference.
“We thought we would have another development,” Macdonald said. “Unfortunately, we don’t at this point.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said, “We are going to investigate it as expeditiously, as thoroughly and completely as justice demands,” he said.
“Sometimes that takes a little time, and we ask people to be patient. We have to do this right,” he added.
“That video is graphic and horrific and terrible, and no person should do that,” he said. “But my job in the end is to prove that he violated criminal statute. And there is other evidence that does not support a criminal charge. We need to wade through all of that evidence to come through with a meaningful determination, and we are doing that to the best of our ability.”
Fox News explained some of the violence occurring:
Freeman, MacDonald and other officials also urged protesters to keep their demonstrations peaceful and avoid harming innocent individuals and businesses.
“We support peaceful demonstration,” Freeman said. “Violence hampers our case, it takes valuable police resources away from our investigation, and it also harms innocent people.”
Earlier in the day, St. Paul police wrote on Twitter that officers encountered looters and vandals near the Target store on University Avenue and elsewhere. Police said they were met with protesters hurling rocks, liquor bottles and bricks.
Sarah Danik, a reporter for the local Fox 9 TV station, shared images that she said were taken at the scene beginning around 3 p.m. They show crowds of masked protesters and police officers, and crashing or banging noises can be heard in some of the videos. In one image, a cloud of smoke, which she identified as tear gas, is seen rising from the sidewalk.
“Officers are giving dispersal orders to groups gathered in various areas of the city, damaging property and attempting to steal from businesses,” the St. Paul Police Department tweeted.
By 4:30 p.m., Danik tweeted that the crowds had dispersed, and she posted a photo that showed a small fire burning in the parking lot near a police vehicle. But not long after that, police said officers were being struck with thrown objects once again.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter implored city residents to “please stay home.”
“Please keep the focus on George Floyd, on advancing our movement, and on preventing this from ever happening again,” he tweeted. “We can all be in that fight together.”