Reporters loudly objected to the use of the word “riot” by a Minnesota police chief after his officers were assaulted and injured by bricks, rocks, and frozen soda cans, he explained. The chief defended the term by describing the incidents encountered by officers at the station Sunday night.
“Just so everybody is clear, I was front and center at the protest, at the riot,” Brooklyn, Minnesota, Police Chief Tim Gannon told reporters during a press conference Monday. His response came to a question from reporters about why he authorized the use of gas canisters following the issuance of a dispersal order.
Reporters strongly objected to the use of the term, “riot.” In the video tweeted by the Washington Examiner Monday, one reporter exclaims, “There was no riot.” Another shouts “Don’t do that!” Multiple other reporters joined in with those objecting to the word “riot.”
“There was,” Chief Gannon countered. “the officers that were putting themselves in harm’s way were being pelted with frozen cans of pop, they were being pelted with concrete blocks.”
The chief continued, “Yes, we had our helmets on. We had other protection gear. But an officer was injured, hit in the head with a brick … he was transported to the hospital. So, we had to make decisions, we had to disperse the crowd because we can’t allow our officers to be harmed.”
The riot and looting on Sunday night followed what Gannon described the possibly an “accidental shooting” of Daunte Wright. A video released by the police department shows an officer deploying her service pistol while shouting, “Taser, Taser, Taser.” A second later she fires her pistol and shouts in dismay, “Holy [expletive]. I shot him.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Face
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