St. Paul police on Thursday responded to a group of alleged looters at the Midway Target as protests spread over the death of George Floyd, according to local reports.
The Star Tribune reports:
Officers responded to the area around 11:30 a.m. and found between 50 and 60 people grabbing merchandise off the shelves without paying, said St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders. Many dropped the goods and ran when authorities arrived.
A fight broke out in the parking lot between a pedestrian and a driver, who reportedly tried to run down the person with their car. The motorist missed and hit another vehicle. No injuries were reported.
Several other nearby stores opted to close out of caution due to the looting, according to CBS Minnesota.
Law enforcement said no arrests have been made at this time.
The incident comes one day after dozens of looters stole televisions and groceries from the Target store near Minneapolis Police’s 3rd Precinct building as protests turned to riots Wednesday.
Fox 9 reporter Karen Scullin shared several videos showing the looting occurring at the Target store on Lake Street, which took place after a tense standoff with officers boiled over.
The protests that began late Wednesday and stretched into Thursday morning were the most destructive yet since the death of Floyd, who was seen on video gasping for breath during an arrest in which an officer kneeled on his neck for almost eight minutes. In the footage, George pleads that he cannot breathe before he slowly stops talking and moving.
Mayor Jacob Frey sought calm. “Please, Minneapolis, we cannot let tragedy beget more tragedy,” he said on Twitter.
Protests also spread to other U.S. cities. In California, hundreds of people protesting Floyd’s death blocked a Los Angeles freeway and shattered windows of California Highway Patrol cruisers.
Pockets of looting continued Thursday at Minneapolis stores where windows and doors were smashed. Television station KSTP reported some fires at businesses burned with no firefighters on the scene. A liquor store employee displayed a gun as he stood among the debris of broken bottles and beer cans inside the business.
Amid the violence, a man was found fatally shot Wednesday night near a pawn shop, possibly by the owner, authorities said.
The AP contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: The photo accompanying this story is of the Minneapolis Target store ransacked in Wednesday night’s demonstrations. It is illustrative and not a literal depiction of the events in this article.
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