Fact check: Capitol riot, 2018 Kavanaugh protests meme lacks context

The claim: In 2018, liberals and Democrats protesting against Judge Brett Kavanaugh stormed the Capitol and Supreme Court, disrupting and desecrating them

In the weeks since rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol apparently attempting to stop Congress from counting electoral votes that would confirm President Joe Biden’s election victory, some social media users have compared the Jan. 6 insurrection to other recent demonstrations.

One such post uses images of protesters demonstrating in late 2018, during the confirmation hearings for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault as a teenager – an allegation he denied. An array of photos on the post shows protesters being removed by U.S. Capitol Police, pounding on the doors of the Supreme Court and occupying the Capitol steps.

It reads: “No this was not yesterday. This was in 2018 when the liberals and Democrats stormed the Capitol building and the Supreme Court building and disrupted and desecrated them over Judge Kavanaugh, or did we all forget about that.”

The screenshot of that post has been viewed thousands of times on Facebook after being shared by dozens of individual users. The earliest identifiable individual who shared the post could not be reached for comment.

Fact check:Biden administration delays implementation of Trump rule on insulin, EpiPens

Protests erupt during Kavanaugh hearings

While Kavanaugh answered questions from senators during his confirmation hearings, protesters demonstrated both inside and outside the U.S. Capitoland at the Supreme Court.

.

They were demonstrating after California professor Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh, initially in an anonymous letter and then in testimony during the confirmation hearings, of sexually assaulting her when the two were teenagers decades earlier. Kavanaugh, then a federal appeals court judge, vehemently denied the allegation.

While some people protested outside, others waited in line for tickets to the confirmation hearing, where they stood to disrupt senators' questioning of Kavanaugh, according to Reuters.

Inside the Hart Senate Office Building, protesters unfurled banners and even directly confronted Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., according to USA TODAY. Several were taken out of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in plastic cuffs.

While protesters did push past a police barricade in front of the steps of the Supreme Court to pound on its doors, according to NBC News, USA TODAY could find no reference to protesters entering the Supreme Court building.

Capitol Police said in a press release they arrested more than 100 people for infractions that ranged from crowding and obstructing to unlawful conduct on Oct. 5, 2018, but The Washington Post reported that nearly 300 protesters had been arrested.

That followed hundreds of protesters arrested during earlier hearings, including about 200 in early September 2018, mostly for disorderly conduct, according to Reuters.

USA TODAY could find no reference to those protesters damaging the Supreme Court or Capitol, which was open to the public in 2018. During the Jan. 6 riot, though, the Capitol and its visitors center were closed to the public, including tours led by members of Congress and their staff, according to a security notice sent to all members of Congress.

The six photos used in the viral post are cropped and sourced from Reuters, the Associated Press and Getty Images, which covered the events.

Fact check:What's true about the Capitol riot, from antifa to BLM to Chuck Norris

Capitol riot turns violent

Although both demonstrations brought thousands of people to the Capitol, the Jan. 6 insurrection that followed a speech from then-President Donald Trump left both demonstrators and police injured or, in some cases, dead.

Video and images from the riot show demonstrators beating a police officer with objects, including a hockey stick; assaulting a photographer; carrying zip-tie handcuffs, and breaking out windows in the Capitol.

U.S. Capitol Police also reported that two pipe bombs were discovered nearby during the demonstrations.

“These individuals actively attacked United States Capitol Police Officers and other uniformed law enforcement officers with metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants, and took up other weapons against our officers. They were determined to enter into the Capitol Building by causing great damage,” now-former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said in a prepared statement.

A Capitol police officer died from injuries sustained during the riot, according to the department, and a Capitol police officer shot and killed a woman who was trying to enter the Speaker’s Lobby through a broken window.

Three other people died from medical emergencies during the demonstration.

As of Feb. 1, the Department of Justice has announced federal charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection against 160 people from across the country. Charges include assault of a federal officer, carrying a gun or ammunition on Capitol grounds, violent entry on Capitol grounds and theft of government property, among others.

Our ruling: Missing context

A post equating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol to 2018 demonstrations against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is MISSING CONTEXT, based on our research, because without additional information it could be misleading. Photos in the post authentically represent the 2018 protests, but the text leaves out key differences between the demonstrations, including violence during the Jan. 6 riot that resulted in the death of a U.S. Capitol Police officer and a demonstrator. Protesters also did not enter the Supreme Court in 2018, as the post claims. The Capitol was open to the public in 2018, but closed during the Jan. 6 riot.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

Ecuador protestors move into captial; president leaves Quito

Gonzalo Solano

ASSOCIATED PRESS

QUITO, Ecuador – Thousands of indigenous people, some carrying long sticks, converged on Ecuador’s capital Tuesday as anti-government protests and clashes led the president to move his besieged administration out of Quito.

The South American country of 17 million people appeared to be at a dangerous impasse, paralyzed by a lack of public transport and blockaded roads that were taking a toll on an already vulnerable economy.

Violence has persisted since last week, when President Lenín Moreno’s decision to end subsidies led to a sharp increase in fuel prices. Protesters seized some oil installations and the state oil company, Petroecuador, warned that production losses could reach 165,000 barrels a day, or nearly one-third of total production, if insecurity continues.

The government declared an overnight curfew around key state installations and government buildings as well as vital infrastructure such as airports and oil refineries.

Earlier Tuesday, protesters broke through police barriers and some entered the empty congress building in Quito. Police fired tear gas and forced them to retreat.

Indigenous protesters occupied two water treatment plants in the city of Ambato, south of the capital, raising concern about supply to residents, according to municipal authorities.

On Monday night, hundreds of people rampaged through the Duran area near the port city of Guayaquil, looting pharmacies, electronic appliance stores and other buildings.

In another part of Ecuador, police abandoned an armored vehicle to protesters who set it on fire. In multiple areas, rioters smashed car windows, broke into shops and confronted security forces.

Some video footage has shown police beating protesters on the ground. Opponents have accused Moreno’s government of human rights abuses in its attempts to quell disturbances.

Moreno met with Cabinet ministers in Guayaquil on Tuesday after moving government operations there from Quito because of security problems. In comments broadcast by the Ecuavisa television network, he said he had the support of Ecuador’s institutions and thanked them “for their defense of the democratic system.”

In a televised address late Monday, the president said he was the target of a coup attempt, but would not back down from his decision to cut subsidies contributing to huge public debt that soared before he took office. The cuts were among measures announced as part of a $4.2 billion funding plan with the International Monetary Fund, which said the package will help the poor by strengthening Ecuador’s economy and generating jobs.

Indigenous groups have condemned what they call the government’s “closed-door agreement” with the IMF, saying in a statement that austerity measures would deepen economic inequality.

The groups said they were carrying out “civil disobedience” and had detained some soldiers and police encroaching on indigenous territories. But they criticized vandalism and looting “by external actors who are not affiliated with our movement or goals.”

Several military commanders stood behind Moreno during his address Monday night, underscoring the armed forces’ support.

Moreno called for dialogue to resolve the crisis. At the same time, he said his leftist predecessor and former ally, Rafael Correa, is trying to destabilize Ecuador with the help of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Ecuador is among dozens of nations calling for Maduro’s ouster.

Maduro dismissed the claim in a Tuesday evening television appearance. He jokingly called himself “Super Maduro” and wiggled his dark mustache in a mocking suggestion that he can summon superpowers to topple governments.

“If you, Mr. Lenín Moreno, want to see the reality of what’s happening, take that economic package back and engage in a dialogue with the people of Ecuador,” Maduro added. “Open a dialogue with the peasants, workers and indigenous people.”

Correa and Moreno have traded allegations of corruption in recent months, and Correa says he and his allies are victims of political persecution. Correa, who has been living in Belgium, faces an arrest warrant issued last year in Ecuador for alleged corruption.

Seven Latin American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru and Paraguay – expressed support for Moreno and denounced Maduro for allegedly trying to “destabilize our democracies.” Colombia has said previously that Venezuela is providing refuge to Colombian guerrillas, an allegation that the Venezuelan government denies.

The Organization of American States called for talks to end the unrest in Ecuador and said Moreno was constitutionally elected.

“The kidnapping of police and military personnel is totally unacceptable, as is the destruction and looting of public goods, the burning of patrol cars and attacks on ambulances,” the regional bloc’s general secretariat said.

Some 570 people have been arrested in Ecuador for crimes including attacks on people and property, according to Juan Sebastián Roldán, the president’s private secretary.

“What we’re going through is not a peaceful mobilization, it’s delinquency and vandalism,” Roldán said on Twitter.

The government last week declared a state of emergency, allowing it to curb some civil liberties as it tries to restore order.

The disturbances have spread from transport workers to students and then to indigenous demonstrators, an ominous turn for the government. Indigenous protesters played a major role in the 2005 resignation of Ecuador’s president at the time, Lucio Gutiérrez, though the military’s tacit approval was key to his removal.

The country’s biggest indigenous group, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, said Moreno’s government had failed to alleviate the welfare of Ecuador’s “most vulnerable” people. The group made similar complaints about Correa, his predecessor.

“We have shown throughout Ecuador’s history that indigenous peoples have the power to shut down the country when our rights are put at risk and power is abused,” the indigenous groups said in their statement.

Inside the DOJ investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection | CNN Politics

CNN —

A year after the January 6 insurrection, the Justice Department continues to press forward on the biggest investigation in FBI history, with 700 people already arrested and hundreds more offenders still at large and several more years of prosecutions ahead.

But the expansive investigation has yet to shed light on how vigorously the former President and political allies could be investigated for inciting rioters by spreading a lie that the election was stolen and asking them to march to the Capitol.

After opening aggressively, with prosecutors raising the prospect of using a rarely used seditious conspiracy law to charge some Capitol attackers, the Justice Department since Attorney General Merrick Garland took office in March 2021 has settled into a less headline-grabbing approach that Justice officials say is intended to keep the probe away from the political maelstrom.

Garland, a former appeals court judge, has made restoring institutional norms a top focus of his tenure, after a Trump era that regularly injected politics at the department. That includes a reminder to prosecutors that they should only speak in indictments and other court proceedings.

“The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law – whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy,” Garland said in a speech Wednesday. “We will follow the facts wherever they lead.”

His quiet approach has not satisfied Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans who openly discuss their interest in identifying crimes they believe the Justice Department should prosecute. It’s also opened Garland to criticism that he hasn’t been as publicly dynamic or aggressive as the nation needs to counter a threat to democracy.

“I think Merrick Garland has been extremely weak and I think there should be a lot more of the organizers of January 6 that should be arrested by now,” Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, said on CNN this week.

Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley defended the agency’s efforts. “We are proud of the men and women of the Justice Department, who are undertaking the largest investigation in the department’s history,” Coley said in a statement. “They are following the facts and the law and the Constitution while working at impressive speed and scale to hold accountable all those responsible for the attack on the Capitol, and will continue to do so.”

For the FBI, which came under criticism for failing to do more to prevent the attack, the January 6 anniversary is also a moment to urge the public to help with more tips to solve notable unsolved crimes, including the police assaults and the pipe bombs found that day near the offices of the Democratic and Republican parties just steps from the Capitol.

Steven D’Antuono, assistant director for the FBI’s Washington field office, said those inquiries are priorities as part of the broader complex investigation.

“In this area where the bombs were placed, if they did go off they could have caused some serious harm or death,” D’Antuono said in an interview with CNN.

“On that day, over 100 police officers were assaulted that day multiple times,” D’Antuono said. “And we’re not just talking about one assault, multiple assaults and by multiple people. We’re still looking for about 250 people individuals that assaulted police officers that day.”

The Justice Department hired a contractor to help it process hundreds of thousands of hours of video in order to do the painstaking work to identify assailants, CNN previously reported. “We’re going to be at this as long as it takes,” he said.

Accountability beyond the rioters

The January 6 attack reframed the face of a domestic terrorism threat that the FBI, Homeland Security Department and other agencies say has grown rapidly. And the January 6 investigation has led to several arrests of what appear to be political extremists on the far right, and extensive investigations into militarized organizations that affiliated themselves with Trump and had members participating in the Capitol violence.

But in many ways, the role of the former President, whose rhetoric fueled the mob and continues to animate supporters, is the elephant in the room that Justice Department officials try to not talk about.

In one of the first moves under Garland, the Justice Department turned over thousands of pages of internal documents to congressional committees investigating the Capitol attack.

The move, which departed from precedent, was aimed at providing lawmakers with information that they could use more quickly to expose the conduct among people in the former administration who inspired the attack. That includes former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who according to testimony by former Trump officials, sought to engineer a coup of department leadership before January 6 and wanted to use the department to support Trump’s false election fraud claims.

The tacit acknowledgment in the move, however, was an indication that it was unlikely that the former president and top officials would face criminal prosecution for actions that incited the attack.

Some Justice officials say that providing the documents to Congress will help provide Americans answers that the Justice Department perhaps may never expose, since the department can only provide a narrative of events when it brings charges.

Justice officials note that prosecutors generally have five years of statute of limitations for most crimes that occurred January 6 and they haven’t foreclosed on the possibility of targeting higher-level figures.

If the release of troves of records to Congress was intended to relieve pressure on the department, in some ways it has done the opposite. Members of the House select committee investigating the attack, have highlighted information they’ve uncovered so far to build a steady drumbeat of pressure for the department to make sure there’s accountability beyond the hundreds of people who illegally entered the Capitol.

Fast start to the largest investigation in FBI history

The investigation began with a burst of activity, with 70 people being charged in the first week and a hundred case files opened, prosecutors said in a briefing. The swiftness was motivated in part because of concerns that a repeat of violence could disrupt the inauguration of President Joe Biden just weeks later.

“No US attorney’s office has charged that many cases, executed this many subpoenas and search warrants in such a short period of time,” Michael Sherwin, the former acting District of Columbia US attorney who helped oversee the investigation, said in an interview. “Speed was critical. We had the Inauguration coming up. We had to instill in the public a sense of order and the rule of law, to mitigate the damage that happened that day.”

But those early news conferences from Sherwin and D’Antuono, who together presented a tough New York-style voice to the law enforcement work, quickly gave way as Garland ushered in a lower-profile style. Sherwin left the Justice Department after he was reprimanded for not getting permission to do an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes, in which he said, among other things, that he believed the Department could charge seditious conspiracy.

The crime scene at the Capitol was unusual and unprecedented in size, in many ways because of how surveillance and police cameras captured dozens of angles of the attack of the Capitol, and because the bragging online posts from the riot’s participants gave prosecutors multiple terabytes of evidence.

Early on, the FBI opened its tip lines and published photos of high profile attackers, immediately ushering a flood of tips from average citizens turning in family, friends and strangers. A loose group of online sleuths, nicknamed Sedition Hunters, organized themselves to cull through publicly released images to help identify dozens of suspected rioters. Their work, which sometimes has been faster than the FBI’s, has been hailed by prosecutors who credited their work in criminal charging documents.

Plodding pace of riot court

Garland’s approach to the January 6 probe appears to mimic the plodding pace of court – what may seem sensible to the long-time federal judge but what largely keeps the wider public from witnessing much of the investigative action outside of court proceedings and documents. So far, more than 160 federal defendants have pleaded guilty, with all but 20 so far pleading guilty to lower-level misdemeanor charges – leaving the bulk of the felony cases to move forward in court in 2022.

About 70 defendants have been sentenced, to either probation or stints in home confinement or jail. Many of the felony defendants are looking at potentially years in prison if found guilty.

The first January 6 criminal trials are set to begin in February. In those days-long proceedings, prosecutors will have to give more of a window into the breadth of communications data, video and other evidence they’ve collected in what has become the largest federal investigation in American history.

At times, the pursuits in court have already connected January 6 investigators to the phone logs of members of Congress and a vast web of MAGA celebrities, such as Roger Stone and Sidney Powell, in touch with people around Trump’s White House leading up to January 6.

But the Justice Department turning the screws on Trump’s closest contacts may be a long way off, if pursued at all. Prosecutors won’t take to trial for months major conspiracy indictments against alleged leaders of the right-wing Proud Boys that broke into the Capitol through a window, and participants in a group of Oath Keepers. In the latter case, with 17 defendants heading to trial, some are accused of stationing guns outside the city on January 6, others say they were acting as security for VIPs, and other defendants zoomed a golf cart to Capitol Hill while coordinating their group during the attack, prosecutors say.

So far, four Oath Keepers defendants have pleaded guilty and appear to be cooperating with prosecutors. And while the Proud Boys’ lawyers have murmured about cooperating witnesses for months and how prosecutors pressured some of them to cooperate, the first known Proud Boys member to be charged with conspiracy flipped only in the last weeks of 2021.

Evan Perez Katelyn Polantz
Evan Perez
Katelyn Polantz

Moore County power: Investigators are zeroing in on 2 possible ...

CNN —

Investigators – who have found nearly two dozen shell casings from a high-powered rifle – are zeroing in on two threads of possible motives centered around extremist behavior for the weekend assault on two North Carolina electric substations, according to law-enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.

The news comes as the primary utility company in Moore County restored electricity to the final customers of the 45,000 homes and businesses that initially lost power.

Officials on Wednesday also announced a total of $75,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Saturday’s attacks.

One thread involves the writings by extremists on online forums encouraging attacks on critical infrastructure. The second thread looks at a series of recent disruptions of LGBTQ+ events across the nation by domestic extremists.

The FBI and the NC State Bureau are assisting in the investigation.

investigators have no evidence connecting the North Carolina attacks to a drag event at the theater in the same county, but the timing of two events are being considered in context with the growing tensions and armed confrontations around similar LBGTQ+ events across the country, the sources told CNN.

In the past two years, anti-government groups began using online forums to urge followers to attack critical infrastructure, including the power grid. They have posted documents and even instructions outlining vulnerabilities and suggesting the use of high-powered rifles.

One 14-page guide obtained by CNN cited as an example the 2013 sniper attack on a high voltage substation at the edge of Silicon Valley that destroyed 17 transformers and cost Pacific Gas and Electric $15 million in repairs.

In that case, the shooter fired more than 100 bullets in about 20 minutes, disappearing a minute before police arrived. The case remains unsolved.

While investigators haven’t found a rifle in the North Carolina shootings, the casings still could offer critical evidence. A law enforcement source told CNN that the caliber of the bullets in the California incident is different from those used in North Carolina.

Investigators are taking into consideration that the timing of Moore County shootings – 7 p.m. on a Saturday night – coincided with the time a drag performance sponsored by the local LBGTQ+ community began, according to the sources. Audience members used their phone flashlights to light the stage for one last song, but after that the performance couldn’t continue due to the power outage, according to Sandhills PRIDE.

Officials have said the gunfire, which left much of the county without electricity for days, were a “malicious” and “intentional” attack. The two substations are about 10 miles apart.

No suspects in the outages have been announced.

Sheriff Ronnie Fields has said whoever fired at the substations “knew exactly what they were doing.” No group “has stepped up to acknowledge or accept they’re the ones who (did) it,” the sheriff said Sunday.

As of Wednesday morning there were 35,000 customers without power, but that number had decreased to 1,200 by the time a 4 p.m. news conference began, according to Duke Energy spokesperson Jeff Brooks. A few hours later the company’s website showed zero outages in the area.

Given the information, county officials said a nightly curfew will end for good at 5 a.m. Thursday.

Shell casings and bullets offer clues

Bullets recovered from the sites, and the brass shell casings found a short distance away, are the few pieces of physical evidence that investigators have.

Because of the heat generated in a high-powered rifle’s chamber during rapid fire, fingerprints are burned away – and nearly impossible to recover from spent casings. Still, the brass may offer valuable clues.

Investigators can enter the casings into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, a database from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The database records three-dimensional images of shell casings and can match them to any other shell casings that may have been fired by the same gun at another crime scene or to the gun if the weapon is recovered.

The spot where the casings were found can give investigators a way to pinpoint the firing positions. Knowing where the shooter fired from could lead to discoveries such as shoe prints and tire tracks.

Residents head to shelter for hot food and showers

For now, schools are closed through Thursday, many stores and restaurants are shut, homes are without heating or running refrigerators, drivers are traversing intersections with no traffic lights.

Nakasha Jackson, who came to the shelter to pick up some hot food, said the outage has been difficult with her 1-year-old child. CNN

A Red Cross-run emergency shelter was set up at the Moore County Sports Complex to help provide shelter, food, showers and other services to people impacted. It will remain as a shelter through noon on Thursday, officials said.

Nakasha Jackson, who came to the shelter to pick up some hot food, said the outage has been difficult for her 1-year-old child.

“No lights, no power, can’t really do nothing. The kid is scared of the dark,” she told CNN.

Jackson said sometimes she has to travel up to an hour one way to buy food. “It’s ridiculous. It should never have been done,” Jackson said.

Residents who rely on electricity-powered medical equipment have also seen their lives upended. One woman told CNN she came to the shelter because she had no power for her CPAP machine at night.

After two days of sleeping without it, she said she began to feel ill and came into the shelter for help.

Others have sought shelter fearing for their safety as they struggled to keep their homes warm.

“It’s different. It’s kind of hard to sleep, you know. But at the end of the day, I’d rather be somewhere where it’s warm, where we have food, where we’re taken care of than to be somewhere it’s freezing cold,” said Amber Sampson.

On top of having to stay at the shelter, Sampson hasn’t been able to work since Sunday after her employer also lost power – an issue that could end up costing her hundreds of dollars.

Authorities have expressed anger over the attack, with Carol Haney, mayor of Southern Pines – a town of about 15,900 residents that completely lost power – calling it a cruel and selfish act.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper voiced concern over businesses and residents in nursing homes.

“When we look at all the money that’s being lost by businesses here at Christmastime, when we look at threats to people in nursing homes having lost power, hospitals having to run off generators and not being able to do certain kinds of operations at this point – all of those are deep concerns here, and we can’t let this happen,” the Democrat told CNN on Tuesday.

“This was a malicious, criminal attack on the entire community.”

John Miller Steve Almasy Whitney Wild
John Miller
Steve Almasy
Whitney Wild

Protests in downtown Nashville: Arrests made for those out after ...

12:06 a.m., Sunday, May 31

Nashville Mayor John Cooper released a video late Saturday, condemning the vandalism from people rioting downtown after a peaceful protest earlier in the day.

"Our Metro Courthouse, iconic for its role in the Civil Rights movement, was the site of much of tonight's reprehensible vandalism," Cooper said in part of his video address.

Watch his entire announcement, including information about the current curfew in place, below.

11:07 p.m.

Nashville police say no police officers were injured. At least 6 metro police vehicles were significantly damaged, including a car swarmed while an officer was behind the wheel, police said.

Nashville's Metro Courthouse, which includes City Hall offices, and several businesses on Broadway were been damaged, police said.

11 p.m.

The Equity Alliance, one of the organizers of Saturday's "I Will Breathe Rally," condemned the violent protests and vandalism that took place in downtown Nashville following the rally.

Leaders of the statewide non-profit issued the following statement attributed to co-founders and co-executive directors Charlane Oliver and Tequila Johnson:

“Our organization, in cooperation with other activists, held a peaceful rally today to protest the murder of Minneapolis resident George Floyd by police as well as to deliver a clear message to Metro and state government leaders that Tennesseans deeply oppose racism and police brutality. The event drew some 4,000 attendees and our staff registered over 300 new voters. It was a peaceful assembly. “It is our firm belief that those individuals defacing and destroying public property after the rally were not a part of the original event. The actions by this small group reflect neither the beliefs of the groups that led today’s peaceful assembly nor those of the majority of the attendees. This behavior dishonors the memory of George Floyd and other black Americans that have died unjustly at the hands of police. “The Equity Alliance condemns and disavows tonight’s violent rioting. We urge anyone feeling heartfelt, honest anger over the murder of George Floyd to direct that energy toward November’s election. The only true way to change our nation for the better is by taking up our civic duty as Americans and making it clear with our vote that we reject racism in all its forms.”

10:38 p.m.

A window was broken at the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville tonight.

Security personnel outside said it appeared to be the only damage.

10:10 p.m.

Police are starting to detain people out on Broadway after the 10 p.m. curfew.

Several have been loaded into a Davidson County Sheriff's Office van.

Others are being herded toward the pedestrian bridge in order for them to leave downtown.

10:00 p.m.

Curfew in effect, Nashville police say anyone on the streets is now is subject to arrest.

9:49 p.m.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said several arrests had been made by 9:40 p.m.

“After the arson and vandalism at the courthouse, this has taken on a much different response,” Aaron said. “Those who continue to harm the city — those who continue to participate in this destruction — are being warned that they’re engaging in unlawful assembly and officers are prepared for arrests.”

9:45 p.m.

As the city prepares to enforce its 10 p.m. curfew, a look at downtown storefronts show several with broken windows.

9:26 p.m.

Over loudspeakers, Nashville police announce that anyone caught outside after the 10 p.m. curfew will be arrested.

Reporter Natalie Allison notes that there are not enough officers to arrest all the folks congregated around the courthouse.

9:13 p.m.

Gov. Bill Lee says he is authorizing the National Guard to deploy in response to Nashville protests, at the request of Mayor John Cooper.

"The threat to both peace and property is unacceptable and we will work with local law enforcement and community leaders to restore safety and order," Lee tweeted. "This is not a reflection of our state or the fundamental American right to peaceful protest."

9:05 p.m.

Nashville police says it is using more tear gas, warning the crowd of unlawful assembly.

9 p.m.

Nashville police issued a 10 p.m. curfew in the city on Saturday night after protests turned violent and City Hall was set on fire.

Police tweeted the announcement about 8:45 p.m.

8:46 p.m.

Metro Nashville police announced in a tweet that they deployed tear gas at the Metro Courthouse to protect the building after fires had been set. Nashville Fire Department is responding.

Mayor John Cooper said he has signed Executive Order No. 9, declaring a state of civil emergency.

Earlier, Mayor Cooper tweeted that this afternoon’s rally for George Floyd and racial justice was peaceful.

"We cannot let today’s message of reform descend into further violence. If you mean our city harm, go home."

More:Fire seen at Nashville courthouse and City Hall building as protests turn violent

8:25 p.m. update:

Cops with riot gear arrived as a fire burned inside a window at City Hall. Officers deployed tear gas as rioters clustered in the center of Public Square Park.

8:17 p.m. update:

A fire has been set at Nashville’s city hall. It’s just in a window right now.

8:13 p.m. update:

A statue outside the state Capitol of Edward Carmack, a controversial former lawmaker and newspaper publisher who was a prohibitionist leader and espoused racist views, has been torn down.

Carmack, an early 1900s politician and newspaper editor, was known for authoring editorials attacking fellow Tennessee journalist Ida B. Wells' writings in support of the civil rights movement, including encouraging retaliation against her, resulting in the burning of her Memphis newspaper office.

Carmack was fatally shot near the Capitol in 1908 as part of an ongoing dispute over favorable prohibitionist coverage in the Tennessean.

David Roberson, spokesman for the Tennessee Department of General Services, says nothing will be done about the statue tonight. It’s unclear whether state troopers will remain posted it by it all night, as they are now.

Roberson said a meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow morning to discuss the statue’s fate, though it’s also unclear who will attend.

7:37 p.m.

Nashville's transportation service,WeGo, has suspended service and shut down the central station downtown amid ongoing protests. According to a tweet, service is suspended temporarily to protect the safety of riders and drivers.

7:33 p.m. update:

Police retreated from a crowd of protesters at Public Square Park while using pepper spray and as rocks were thrown at them.

7:04 p.m. update:

Rioters are now throwing rocks through and smashing windows at Metro Nashville’s courthouse, which is houses city hall.

6:53 p.m. update:

Some of the crowd is walking back down Broadway. Some protesters were vandalizing Bridgestone Arena with graffiti. Others pushed the city's metal trash cans into the street.

6:36 p.m. update:

A sizable chunk of the crowd says they’re headed to Broadway. Most of the protesters seem to be on the move there now.

6:20 p.m. update:

Reporter Natalie Allison captured video of a Nashville police officer being hit by a rock while holding back a line of protesters.

6:00 p.m. update:

Police officers just arrived on horses.

Some in the crowd threw rocks and water bottles toward the officers.

The horses almost reared up and seemed startled. The officers rounded the building and moved on.

In another area of the downtown protests, a woman began yelling at the line of police in ballistic gear about Daniel Hambrick being wrongly killed, yelling that officer Andrew Delke should be brought to justice.

In January Nashville grand jury indicted Delke on a first-degree murder charge in the fatal shooting of Hambrick, moving the unprecedented case closer to a criminal trial.

5:55 p.m. update:

A series of officers in riot gear with masks, helmets and batons just arrived at the front of the Central Precinct in downtown Nashville.

The crowd has converged around them. A few plastic water bottles flew toward the officers.

5:40 p.m. update:

Central precinct commander Gordon Howey says multiple people have been arrested

He does not believe pepper spray has been deployed despite people in the crowd saying so.

"It's a mess right now."

5:24 p.m. update:

Protesters bashed in the windows of a police cruiser outside the Central Precinct at Sixth Avenue and Korean Veterans Boulevard.

Police tackled some of the protesters.

5:14 p.m. update:

Thousands of protesters are marching in the street on Lower Broadway and onto 8th Avenue, blocking traffic as tourists at recently opened bars and restaurants looked on.

Small explicit graffiti phrases could be seen spray-painted on multiple businesses along 8th Avenue.

4:40 p.m. update:

Protesters began marching downtown on Charlotte Avenue after a 90-minute rally protesting the police brutality and racism following the death of George Floyd.

Organizers urged participants to remain peaceful.

Police remained at the perimeter of the group but did not appear to be interacting with the protesters.

3:27 p.m. update:

Thousands of demonstrators crowded Legislative Plaza Saturday afternoon, stretching up to the steps of the State Capitol.

As speakers stepped up to a megaphone, the throngs cheered and chanted “I can’t breathe!” and “No justice, no peace!”

Demonstrators packed together despite the ongoing threat of the coronavirus, wearing masks and lifting signs saying “Black Lives Matter” and “Not One More.”

Police stood on the outskirts of the rally directing traffic. They didn’t interact with the demonstrators.

Original story:

Nashville Mayor John Cooper said he would attend a Saturday afternoon rally protesting police brutality and racism following the death of George Floyd.

Cooper encouraged members of the city council to join him at the 3 p.m. rally at Legislative Plaza, which follows a wave of protests in other cities. The mayor said it was "an especially critical time for all of us, as Metro’s leaders, to show up and listen to black voices speaking out from across Davidson County."

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer kept a knee pressed into his neck for more than eight minutes. The officer, Derek Michael Chauvin, 44, was arrested and charged with murder.

Floyd's death intensified anger and frustration for many who say it is an example of pervasive racism among law enforcement nationwide. Protests have swept through many major cities.

Friday night protests in Memphis and Knoxville were peaceful, but violence has erupted during protests in Minneapolis, Louisville and Atlanta.

Organizers of the Nashville rally said they wanted to create a peaceful and safe space for people to express their grief and call for change.

Organizer Hamid Abdullah said Floyd's death had become a tipping point within the movement against racism and police brutality.

"More people are coming together. More people are listening. More people are paying attention," Abdullah said. "People are fed up with brutality and they want to do something."

Abdullah said he welcomed "all people of good will" to the rally. He said he hoped Cooper would understand the need to make changes to prevent similar deaths in the future.

"We are looking to have a peaceful rally," he said. "We want to make sure that our people are heard. We want to make sure our people are respected."

The ongoing debate over policing and racial bias has been a prominent part of life in Nashville for years. In 2018, local activists spurred a citywide vote that created the Community Oversight Board, a civilian panel that investigates allegations of police misconduct.

The vote came after a white police officer shot Daniel Hambrick, 25, a black man, while he was running away during a foot pursuit. That officer, Andrew Delke, 26, was arrested and charged with murder. The case is pending.

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and atamburin@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @tamburintweets.

Fact check: Thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters were ...

The claim: Black Lives Matter protesters caused $2 billion worth of damage and faced no consequences

Since the nationwide protests following George Floyd's murder in summer 2020, misinformation about Black Lives Matter has spread online, ranging from misleading claims about the movement's founder to false assertions about the group’s politics.

Another claim surfaced Feb. 15 on Facebook.

“BLM burned our cities and destroyed $2B of property. They faced no consequences. Their lawlessness celebrated and excused," reads text in the post, published by a page called The Right View of the United States. "So yes, I’m absolutely fine with some truckers & farmers clogging roads & bridges for freedom.

The post shows a Feb. 11 tweet from Bryan Dean Wright, an opinion writer and former CIA officer. Combined, the posts accumulated more than 5,000 shares within a week.

The "truckers & farmers" mentioned in the post refer to anti-vaccine mandate protesters in Canada. The protests, colloquially known as the "Freedom Convoy," began in late January after the Canadian government started requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for drivers crossing the U.S. border. Similar movements have cropped up across the world, with demonstrations against COVID-19 restrictions also taking place in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks

While the post contains an element of truth, it presents a misleading comparison of the Freedom Convoy and Black Lives Matter protests.

Some reports have estimated insurance claims for damages related to the 2020 protests totaled about $2 billion. However, the post is wrong to claim protesters saw no consequences – in fact, over 10,000 protesters were arrested, most for low-level offenses.

USA TODAY reached out to Wright and The Right View of the United States for comment.

Protest-related damages cost about $2 billion, according to estimate

Damages caused by the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests were estimated to cost $2 billion, a number that could "still go higher," according to a February 2021 report published on the World Economic Forum's website.

The report was authored by the head of Property Claim Services, which has tracked protest-related insurance claims for decades. The group found that 2020 protests cost more than any other period of unrest in American history, as the average cost of demonstrations since 1950 has been about $90 million annually.

Other cost estimates support Property Claim Services' $2 billion figure.

Fact check:Posts mislead about crowd size, peacefulness at Canada ‘Freedom Convoy’ protest

Axios reported in September 2020 that the Insurance Information Institute, which collects data from Property Claim Services and related firms, estimated that damages could total “as much as 2 billion and possibly more.”

Thousands of protesters arrested in 2020

Contrary to the claim in the post, many Black Lives Matter protesters did face consequences. Estimates vary, but news outlets reported thousands of protesters were arrested in the months following Floyd’s death in May 2020.

A June 22, 2020, article from The Washington Post tallied over 14,000 arrests made since May 27. The Hill reported over 17,000 arrests had been made in the first two weeks of protests.

Despite the large number of arrests, The Hill reported most of those protesters were booked not for violent crimes, but for low-level offenses such as violating curfews. Obstructing roadways and carrying open containers were other reasons for the arrests, as well as “failure to disperse.”

Some more serious charges were filed as well, however. The Associated Press reported hundreds were charged with burglary and looting as of June 4, 2020.

In October 2020, researchers writing for The Washington Post analyzed 7,305 protest events and found police made arrests at 5% of them. Only 3.7% of the events involved property damage or vandalism, according to the analysis.

PolitiFact reported in June 2020 that, while protests in several major cities started with violence, most demonstrations across the country were largely peaceful.

Our rating: Partly false

Based on our research, we rate PARTLY FALSE the claim that Black Lives Matter protesters caused $2 billion worth of damage and faced no consequences. It's true that, in 2020, protests over Floyd's death were estimated to have caused about $2 billion in damage. But the post is wrong to say demonstrators faced no consequences. News reports indicate more than 10,000 protesters were arrested, most for low-level offenses.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

New York City crime wave continues into 2022 as city rolls out safety ...

CNN —

Major crimes in New York City spiked nearly 60% in February compared to the same month in 2021 – a large majority occurring in a small swath of the metropolis – as Mayor Eric Adams rolled out his plan to combat gun violence and crime in the city.

The New York Police Department tracked increases across every major crime category. The city recorded a 41% increase in overall major crime through the first months of 2022 compared to the same period last year, including a nearly 54% increase in robberies, a 56% increase in grand larceny incidents and a 22% increase in rape reports, the data shows.

“We’ve got to get it right,” Adams said Friday. “Two months in, we’re executing our plan and we’re going to defeat crime. I’m clear on that.”

Murders increased by 10%, while citywide shooting incidents decreased by 1.3%, with 77 incidents in February 2021 and 76 incidents last month, NYPD data shows.

As the violent crime wave continues, most of the incidents are occurring in a small fraction of the city’s neighborhoods, according to Christopher Herrmann, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former crime analyst supervisor with the NYPD.

“The violent crime problem isn’t spreading much,” Herrmann said. “The huge increase in hate crimes and subway crimes are all really just an increase of more people being outside.”

The city reported 85 hate crimes through the first two months of 2022, a significant increase from the 35 hate crimes reported during the same period last year, NYPD data shows.

“The men and women of the New York City Police Department are proactively addressing the deep-rooted causes of criminal behavior,” said Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell in a statement. “The NYPD will never relent, and the department has made far too much progress over the decades – and invested far too much in the communities it serves – to fall back by any measure. New Yorkers deserve better.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul leave the funeral for fallen NYPD officer Wilbert Mora at St. Patrick's Cathedral on February 02, 2022 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty

Adams unveiled his ‘Blueprint to End Gun Violence’ in January, which includes long-term goals to grow economic opportunities, improve child education and provide more access to mental health resources while addressing the gun crisis.

Herrmann said the mayor and the police commissioner are tasked with driving “this really fine line between proactive policing, precision policing and not marginalizing people that are already marginalized.” He emphasized that high crime areas have already suffered the most – both in economic opportunity and increases in crime – during the Covid-19 pandemic.

NYPD officials, including Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, held a press conference earlier this week to discuss the ongoing efforts to stop the proliferation of privately made ghost guns, which are not branded with a serial number. The department recovered 85 ghost guns so far this year compared to 20 recovered during the same period in 2021, the city said.

NYPD Inspector Courtney Nilan said that the increase in ghost guns is “alarming” as they become a daily encounter for police. Officers are recovering ghost guns in responding to domestic violence incidents, robberies involving a firearm and car stops, Nilan said.

Transit crimes increase as mayor rolls out safety plan

Crime in New York reached historic lows over the past three decades before numbers started to go up in 2020, a spate that has continued over the last two years and mirrors what is being felt in big cities around the country. The number of major crimes reported in February 2022 – 9,138 – represents a 19.7% from 2020 and a nearly 47% increase from 2019, city data shows.

Since the beginning of 2022, there have been 375 transit crimes, a jump of nearly 73% compared to the same period in 2021 that recorded 217 transit crimes, according to city data. This comes as ridership in the city’s transit system continues to increase but has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) recorded the highest ridership on March 1 since the start of the pandemic, with over 3.1 million riders on the subway, compared to just 1.7 million on the same day in 2021, MTA data shows.

The MTA reported 1,778 transit crimes in 2021, a slight increase over the 1,759 crimes reported in 2020 and a decrease from 2,524 transit crimes in 2019. In March 2020, before the lockdown hit, there were over 5 million riders on the subway, city data shows.

The New York City subway system, the nation's largest, has come under increasing scrutiny following the violent death of 40-year old Michelle Go in the Times Square subway station. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The significant increase comes as Adams begins to roll out his comprehensive plan to combat crime and address homelessness in the subway system that will expand response teams of health, police and community officials across the city.

“We are days into the first part of a long-term effort to connect New Yorkers to services and set them on a path to permanent housing and stability,” Adams said in a statement on Friday. “The systemic challenges facing people experiencing homelessness and living with serious mental illness developed over decades, and will take time to fix.”

Adams unveiled the plan alongside Gov. Kathy Hochul last month, highlighting the local, state and federal resources the city will employ to combat mental health and safety amid a concerning spate of violent crime incidents occurring within the transit system.

After the city’s announcement in late February, eight violent incidents occurred in a three-day period the following weekend on various subway platforms spanning several boroughs, including at least six people who were stabbed or slashed, CNN reported.

The joint initiative involves the deployment of up to 30 inter-agency collaborative teams that bring together the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the NYPD and community-based providers in “high-need” locations, the plan states.

Mayor revives ‘anti-crime unit’ in response to violence

In January, major crimes were up by nearly 38% when compared to January 2021, NYPD data shows. While there were six fewer murders in January 2022 than in the previous year, there were increases seen across every other major crime category tracked by the NYPD for the same period.

The mayor’s plan to combat gun violence in the city aims to bolster the NYPD’s efforts to fight crime with “targeted, precision policing,” focusing on the 30 precincts where 80% of the violence occurs while expanding the anti-violence Crisis Management System (CMS) to address the symptoms of gun violence, Adams said.

President Joe Biden visited New York City in February to discuss combating gun violence with state and local leaders, which included an appearance at a public school in Queens for a talk with community leaders.

The mayor resurrected the NYPD’s controversial anti-crime unit in January in response to a wave of violence during his first month in office, including a Harlem shooting that left two police officers dead after responding to domestic incident and the death of Michelle Alyssa Go, a woman who was pushed to her death in front of a Times Square subway train.

The anti-crime unit, which was disbanded in August 2020 following racial justice protests and unrest across the country, was rebranded as Neighborhood Safety Teams tasked with patrolling high-crime neighborhoods.

“We cannot rely on NYPD to arrest its way out of our ongoing increasing crime wave,” said Herrmann of John Jay College. “We need to try other crime prevention programs and develop new neighborhood and community partnerships that focus on crime prevention as a longer-term strategy.”

Emma Tucker Mark Morales
Emma Tucker
Mark Morales

Jake Angeli, QAnon man in fur hat, horns during Capitol riot, arrested

PHOENIX – The QAnon-supporting man who briefly took the dais during the storming of the U.S. Capitol — while wearing a fur hat topped with buffalo horns and wielding a spear — has been arrested, the Justice Department announced Saturday.

Jake Angeli, of Phoenix, had been on the list of persons the Metropolitan Police of Washington D.C. said it wanted the public’s help in finding after the deadly siege of the Capitol building Wednesday by supporters of President Donald Trump.

Angeli was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

He was taken into custody Saturday morning in Phoenix, according to the Justice Department. He's expected to have an initial appearance in federal court next week in Phoenix, a Justice spokesperson told The Arizona Republic.

He was among three men charged on Saturday in federal court in connection with the riots.

Dozens chargedin Capitol siege, including man carrying Pelosi's lectern

In a statement of facts, filed to secure an arrest warrant for Angeli, a Capitol Police special agent said he was able to identify Angeli through his “unique attire and extensive tattoos covering his arms and left side of his torso.

Angeli, according to the statement of facts, called the FBI on his own Thursday and confirmed he was the person who briefly was at the dais of the U.S. Senate.

Angeli told the FBI he came to D.C. “as part of a group effort, with other ‘patriots’ from Arizona, at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6, 2021,” the statement of facts reads.

The affidavit and arrest warrant were signed by a magistrate judge on Friday.

The Justice Department's release said that Angeli was the man seen in extensive media coverage "dressed in horns, a bearskin headdress, red, white and blue face paint, shirtless, and tan pants. This individual carried a spear, approximately 6 feet in length, with an American flag tied just below the blade," according to the Justice Department.

The Justice Department identified him as "Jacob Anthony Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli, of Arizona."

Capitol riot Saturday updates:FBI looking for man in Senate with zip ties, tactical gear

Though he identified himself publicly as Angeli, court records show he petitioned to have his name legally changed to Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley in 2005.

In the court petition, he wrote, “I want my last name to be that of my step-father, my dad. I was not legally adopted by my step-father while a minor.” He said Angeli was his mother’s last name.

Also charged Saturday were Derrick Evans, a recently elected member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, and Adam Johnson of Florida, who was photographed carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern Wednesday.

Angeli was recognizable to Arizonans as soon as images of the Capitol raid emerged. For the past two years, he had appeared in similar garb, becoming a fixture at political rallies, marches and protests. Besides his attention-getting outfit, Angeli had a booming voice that, without need of amplification, could be easily heard among a crowd.

Angeli, reached on his cell phone on the night of the Capitol invasion, refused an interview with The Arizona Republic, unhappy with his portrayal in previous stories and videos.

However, he did speak with NBC News on Thursday, as he was beginning his return trip to Arizona.

'This was really big': Far-right extremist groups use Capitol attack to recruit new members

Angeli told NBC News he thought the day was a political success. “The fact that we had a bunch of our traitors in office hunker down, put on their gas masks and retreat into their underground bunker," he said. "I consider that a win."

He also said he didn’t do anything wrong by entering the U.S. Capitol. “I walked through an open door, dude,” he said.

Photos showed Angeli, at one point, assuming the dais of the U.S. Senate. It was the same spot where Vice President Mike Pence had stood earlier that day to preside over the joint session of Congress that was set to certify the election for Joe Biden.

That session was delayed for some six hours as Senators and Representatives were hustled out of the chambers and into safety.

Angeli became one of dozens of people arrested and charged out of the events of that day.

In a conference call of federal officials on Friday, January 8, Steven D'Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office, said, “Just because you've left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on your door if we find out you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol.”

Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick who died after pro-Trump riot was veteran and war critic

The Republic interviewed Angeli during 2020 as part of a series of stories and a mini-documentary on the Patriot movement in Arizona, the increasingly powerful right-wing of the Republican party. Some adherents promoted conspiracy theories including the baseless idea of QAnon.

Angeli lived in Phoenix, but it was not clear what he did for a living.

He was listed on a webpage for voice-over actor for hire. He also sold online courses in shamanistic studies. He said he also volunteered for an arts organization in Phoenix that worked with at-risk youth.

A few days a week – when the spirit moved him, Angeli told the Republic in a 2020 interview – he would stand alone outside the Arizona State Capitol and shout diatribes at the buildings, regardless of whether the legislature was in session or not.

During the 2020 campaign, Angeli was at nearly every march, rally or protest in the Phoenix area. After Election Day, Angeli was among the crowd that protested outside elections headquarters as the counting went on inside. He seemed to take a leadership role, often being one of the featured speakers.

Angeli typically carried a cardboard sign that looked intentionally weathered. It read: Q Sent Me.

It was a reference to the QAnon conspiracy theory that Angeli believed and wished to share with others.

How QAnon and other dark forces are radicalizing Americans

QAnon is a wide-ranging conspiracy theory. But its central belief is this: A government official with top-secret “Q” clearance anonymously posted cryptic clues about secret investigations being conducted by Trump into a "deep state" cabal of elites that controlled a child sex trafficking ring.

Angeli said that his research into the secretive groups he believes control the world — Illuminati, Trilateral Commission and Bilderberg group, among others — predated the rise of the QAnon movement.

“When you really do enough research,” he said, “it all ties together.”

Anne Ryman contributed to this report.

Once nicknamed "Murderapolis," the city that made itself the center ...

CNN —

Marnette Gordon was doing laundry at home in Minneapolis one summer morning last year when a call came from her 36-year-old son.

She figured her son, Telly Blair, was checking in to see if she wanted a soda from a gas station down the street, where he often went for fuel and snacks.

“Mom, I’ve been shot,” he said. “Call the police!”

Marnette, her other son Tamarcus and his 12-year-old daughter rushed to the gas station from their home in the city’s north side, a part of town long beset by violent crime.

Blair’s family came upon his blue 1986 Chevy Caprice at pump No. 5 — beating police and paramedics by a few minutes, they said — only to find him slumped in his car, bleeding from multiple bullet wounds in his chest. A 17-year-old male in an orange hoodie had fired nine rounds from a handgun into Blair’s car before running off.

While an off-duty nurse in scrubs who’d been at the gas station tried to stop his bleeding, Marnette — a heart-transplant recipient — couldn’t bear to watch and stood at a distance. Telly was her caretaker.

“It was just horrible to see him sitting there, waiting on the ambulance,” she told CNN.

The 12-year-old called 911 while watching her uncle struggle to breathe.

“Oh my God, please,” the girl, who was crying, said to a dispatcher, according to 911 transcripts of the August 9, 2021 shooting obtained by CNN. “Hurry up, hurry up, hurry, hurry, he’s dead, hurry up!”

Telly Blair was among 93 people who were murdered in Minneapolis last year, city crime data shows. That’s just a few shy of the total killings in 1995, when the city earned the nickname “Murderapolis.” (Neighboring St. Paul witnessed 38 murders last year — a historic high.)

A photo of Telly Blair and his mother, Marnette, rests on a table in their home in north Minneapolis. Marnette Gordon, 61, mother of Telly Blair, 36, who lost his life to gun violence in north Minneapolis, photographed in her home.

After the police murder of George Floyd in May of 2020, Minneapolis became a worldwide symbol of the police brutality long endured disproportionately by Black people. In a kind of Newtonian response, the city became the epicenter of the culturally seismic “Defund the Police” movement. But that progressive local effort fizzled with a decisive referendum last November.

Now, with its police department under investigation by the Department of Justice, the city of 425,000 is trying to find a way forward amid a period of heightened crime that began shortly after Floyd’s death.

That year, the number of murders soared to nearly 80 — dwarfing the 2019 body count of 46. It has cooled somewhat this year, though the amount of killing — and violent crime in general — remains elevated far above 2019 levels and homicides are on pace to surpass the 2020 figure. The reasons why are far from clear.

KG Wilson, a longtime resident of the Twin Cities, said police withdrew from violent neighborhoods in the aftermath of Floyd’s killing — a common sentiment among locals.

“The criminals were celebrating. They were getting rich,” he said. “They were selling drugs openly.”

Wilson told CNN the violence devastated his own family: His 6-year-old granddaughter was killed in May of 2021 after getting caught in the crossfire of a gunfight in north Minneapolis. The culprit remains at large.

Another factor was the pandemic, which some observers see as the biggest impetus for the crime surge.

“It unsettled settled trajectories,” said Mark Osler, a former federal prosecutor who is now a professor at St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. “Kids who were going to school, who would have graduated but drifted off because there is no school — we’re seeing a lot of the violent crime is by juveniles.”

Citing sinking morale in the wake of the unrest after Floyd’s killing, leaders at the Minneapolis Police Department say the officer head count has shrunk from 900 in early 2020 to about 560 in August — a loss of more than a third of the force.

KG Wilson created a memorial for his granddaughter Aniya Allen in his SUV. The car seat cover of her face rests on the seat where she would ride with him. Andrea Ellen Reed for CNN

Against this backdrop, the political pendulum on public-safety matters in this reliably liberal city — the “Mini Apple” hasn’t had a Republican mayor since 1973, and that was for just a single day — seems to have swung away from a progressive mindset towards the middle.

And on matters of public safety, the middle is where many of the city’s Black residents already were.

Last year, progressives touted a ballot measure that was said to be a referendum on the “defund” concept. Question 2, as it was known locally, would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a new “public health-oriented” Department of Public Safety and removed a minimum staffing requirement from the city charter.

It failed in November, with 56% of voters rejecting it. That figure was 61% in north Minneapolis, a pair of neighboring city wards where Blacks make up a strong plurality of the roughly 66,000 residents. All but one of the 17 precincts in the north voted against the measure.

“We did not believe that the police should be defunded, but we do believe in police reforms,” said Bishop Richard Howell of Shiloh Temple, a north-side church founded more than 90 years ago.

Rae McKay-Anderson — Telly Blair’s sister — said “you can’t possibly defund the police in a way that’s going to benefit the Black community.”

Dealing the final blow to the local “defund” movement last year was a city council vote to essentially refund a cut they’d made the prior year. Mayor Jacob Frey is proposing another budget bump for the next two fiscal years.

The question of the moment is, if the police budget has been restored, and if all the anti-cop shouting by politicians and activists that left officers demoralized has weakened to a whimper, why are citizens — especially in the rough parts of north Minneapolis — still feeling neglected by police and fearful for their safety?

A feeling of lawlessness, a sense of neglect

Residents of the north side describe a landscape that can feel lawless. Indeed, about 60% of police calls for shots fired this year have come from the area, even though it makes up just 15% of the population, according to city data.

Paul Johnson, 56, said young men openly sell drugs during the day in public places, such as a gas station on Broadway Avenue that has been dubbed the “murder station” due to all of the fatal shootings there. (It is near the one where Blair was killed.)

“You pull up to get gas – they try to sell you drugs,” he said. “And not just three or four, but it’s a bulk of people.”

The perception among many residents is that the police ignore the area.

“They just let it go on,” said Johnson’s friend, Brian Bogan, 42, who said he moved from north Minneapolis to relatively safer St. Paul due to his kids growing up in an area where they don’t know if “it’s fireworks or gunshots.”

A memorial for Aniya Allen lay on the ground of the corner store near where she was shot in north Minneapolis. Andrea Ellen Reed for CNN

While Minneapolis is far from the nation’s most dangerous city, its rate of increase in homicides — the count in 2021 was about double that of 2019 — is among the highest in the nation, said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri- St. Louis and co-author of an annual study on crime trends.

On per-capita murders, it has ranked fairly high — 19th out of 70 jurisdictions in the US — during the first half of this year, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association. The city ranked even higher on other per-capita crime measures, such as robbery (4th), rape (8th) and aggravated assault (13th).

Juliee Oden, 56, can’t even count the times she has called 911 to report gunfire outside her north-side home. One night last summer, a volley of shots jolted her out of bed while she was watching TV — it was coming from her front lawn.

“I hit the floor,” she said. “My phone went flying. I had to crawl on my stomach to get to the phone” to dial 911.

It got to the point where it was hard to sleep at night and Oden, who works at a construction company, had colleagues install a bulletproof panel behind the headboard of her bed.

“Now I go in my room with complete confidence,” she said. “If somebody is to shoot directly at my house, I know: As long as I’m behind my headboard, I’m 100% safe.”

Oden was among eight residents in north Minneapolis who filed a lawsuit in the summer of 2020 calling on the city to replenish the police department by filling vacant positions. The suit singled out city council members who supported the “radical ‘dismantle the police’” idea and accused them and Mayor Frey of creating a “hostile” environment for the police. It was largely upheld by a state Supreme Court decision this summer — meaning the city needs to staff up to at least 731 police officers.

Doug Seaton, an attorney representing the eight residents, said the successful suit was filed in direct response to how progressive city council members had embraced the “defund” idea. It demoralized the police department and ultimately led to a mass exodus of officers, he said.

“That is, we think, the major reason that crime has spiked throughout the city and hasn’t gone away yet,” Seaton said.

Meanwhile, as the MPD headcount has shrunk, wait times have grown for people who call 911 to report serious “priority 1” incidents, which can include shots fired, robberies, assaults and mental health crises.

Average 911 response times jumped the very month of Floyd’s death — May of 2020 — from around 10 or 11 minutes early that year to 14 minutes, according to public records obtained by CNN. They kept rising in 2021 to 16 minutes; response times in the north side’s fourth precinct last year actually surpassed 17 minutes, where they remain.

Some nights are so busy that the dispatchers are directed to hold all non-priority-1 calls citywide; these would include reports of property damage, suspicious persons or theft. That happened during a frenetic five-hour stretch on the night of September 8, when officers responded to multiple shootings and calls for shots fired — many of them in north Minneapolis; one near the “murder station” — that left two dead and seven wounded.

The Minneapolis Police Department has even flatly refused to respond to certain crimes in a timely manner. One couple who run a property management business recently took it upon themselves to investigate the theft of their van, box truck and tools by a culprit who brought the stolen goods into a homeless encampment on the north side, according to local news reports.

Police told KARE 11 that the hostility towards police on the part of some encampment dwellers compels them to take a slower approach when investigating property crimes there.

But by and large, police officials have said the slower response times are the expected byproduct of a depleted force that has witnessed an overwhelming wave of retirements, resignations and disability leaves due to post-traumatic stress.

Much of that exodus owes to a bottoming out of morale in the wake of a crisis that left police officers feeling reviled, said interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman.

“There’s really been a very fundamental challenge to our sense of purpose in law enforcement,” Huffman said of the post-Floyd era. “(Minneapolis) is the eye of the storm. So all of those challenges and the pressure is magnified, you know, a hundred fold – a thousand fold.”

Similar headcount plunges have plagued police departments from coast to coast.

Some law enforcement officials have attributed the mass resignations and retirements to pandemic-related reasons, but Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith of the National Police Association said morale is a major factor.

“It’s no secret that law enforcement … especially in the last two and a half years, has been badly vilified and wrongly vilified,” she told CNN. “You can’t call an entire profession racist and expect people to just sit back and say, okay, you know, keep piling on.”

The gas station where Telly Blair was fatally shot in north Minneapolis. Andrea Ellen Reed for CNN

In June, the embattled Minneapolis department was hit with more bad press — this time for its abysmal numbers on unsolved murders in recent years.

Since 2016, the clearance rate (or the percentage of homicide cases closed) in Minneapolis sank from around 54% — the most recent national average — to 38% in 2020, according to the latest available data from the FBI. Figures for last year haven’t been released by the FBI, but Huffman insists the rate has improved considerably, claiming that the unofficial figure for this year to date is back to 54%.

Even so, some family members of murder victims say they have felt compelled to take a lead role in the homicide investigations of their own loved ones.

Residents take matters into their own hands

Among them is Dorothy Royston, a 26-year-old healthcare professional who said she spent weeks proactively feeding police information shortly after her unarmed younger brother, Charles Royston Jr., was gunned down on a snowy street in north Minneapolis on a January night in 2021, according to police reports.

“They had a lot of the information or the logistics of what was – like bullet casings and stuff like that,” Dorothy said. “But when it comes to who was involved with the actual shooting, who was around – and the people information? I actually provided that to the police.”

Dorothy provided CNN with text messages between her and a lead investigator on the case. In February of 2021, the investigator told her in a message that there would be a warrant out for the arrest of a suspect by the next day. He still hasn’t been arrested, Dorothy said.

She said communications from the investigator fell off around March of 2021.

A couple months ago, about a year and a half after the killing, Dorothy said, she called the investigator to ask for an update.

“He told me that he was currently doing something and that he would call me back,” she said. “He never called me back.”

(The investigator agreed to talk with CNN, but a police spokesperson called off the interview. )

Taken together, the current state of crime and policing in Minneapolis — from slow response times to recent brutality complaints to the poor clearance rates — has fostered an atmosphere of distrust.

The distrust paves the way for some to assume bad intentions. Dave Bicking, a board member of the Minneapolis-based Community United Against Police Brutality, goes so far as to suggest the police since Floyd’s death may have engaged in a “sickout” — that is, that officers are purposefully sluggish to respond to or investigate certain crimes.

“It’s still going on to a considerable extent — it was dramatic in the beginning,” Bicking told CNN. “The police would simply, if they showed up at all, say, ‘Oh, we don’t have anybody to deal with that,’ or ‘You people don’t want us here, so we’re not going to do anything.’”

Dave Bicking outside his facility, Communities United Against Police Brutality, in Minneapolis. Andrea Ellen Reed for CNN

Bicking, who has been publicly critical of the “defund” tactic from the get-go, said he bases the sickout claim on a drop-off in jail bookings shortly after Floyd’s death and on more than 2,300 interviews the CUAPB has conducted over the past year and a half with Minneapolis residents about their experiences with the MPD.

He added that the CUAPB persuaded the Department of Justice to include in its investigation of the MPD the alleged lack of Minneapolis police investigations into murders of people of color.

Chief Huffman did not respond to follow-up questions related to sickout allegations, but in her earlier interview with CNN she said Minneapolis has unique challenges.

For one, she said, Minneapolis has a relatively low rate of domestic murders, which are typically easier to solve, and a high rate of gang murders, which are more difficult.

But the bigger factor again comes down to attrition. Huffman said the Minneapolis Police Department has lost about 100 investigators in its investigations bureau since early 2020.

Still, Huffman said the MPD is committed to solving homicides, adding that unsolved murders can have serious negative repercussions that ripple through communities for years and devastate families.

“The lack of justice for families who have had family members murdered is completely unacceptable,” she said. “And it’s incumbent on us to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to solve those cases.”

Huffman’s new boss, Cedric Alexander — who was hired in August as the city’s first ever community safety commissioner — said he understands the community’s frustration.

“When you have a body drop and another body drops and another body drops, what you have oftentimes is ongoing violence – it certainly does overwhelm an agency that already is struggling with a great deal of shortages,” he told CNN. “It does give people the perception nothing is being done. But I can assure you that it is. And in any of these violent cases where we have victims, it is taken at a very high priority.”

How ‘defund’ failed

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is shouted at by protesters at a Defund the Police march in early June of 2020 to protest the police killing of George Floyd. (Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux) Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux

In June of 2020, nine of the Minneapolis City Council’s 13 members stood on a stage adorned with an oversized sign saying “DEFUND POLICE.”

Around the same time, in another spectacle that made national news, Mayor Frey was booed and jeered by activists at a George Floyd protest near his home for saying — in response to a question — that he did not support “the full abolition of police.” As he walked away, the crowd broke into a “Go home Jacob!” chant.

“It was a lonely walk,” Frey told CNN recently. “At that moment there was a very loud chorus of people, including elected officials … that were all calling very loudly to defund the police.”

It’s well established that those widely viewed events boosted a movement in Minneapolis that would later fail at the polls last November. Lesser known is how the very community most directly impacted by crime and policing in the city — the north side — was among the least supportive of the “defund” idea.

“I think what’s at issue is the White progressives’ belief that they’re helping us,” said Lisa Clemons, a former Minneapolis police officer, who is Black and runs a gun-violence organization called A Mother’s Love in north Minneapolis. “Oftentimes they are hurting us.”

Clemons said people in north Minneapolis don’t want to get rid of cops – “they just want respectful cops.”

Lisa Clemons, a resident of north Minneapolis and former cop, at the Northside Community Center at Cub Foods. Andrea Ellen Reed for CNN

Minneapolis voters not only resoundingly rejected what was seen as the “defund” initiative, they also voted to strengthen the office of the mayor and reelected Frey, who’d become a local avatar for moderate Democrats put off by the party’s most liberal wing.

The Minneapolis area with the largest Black population — Ward 5 on the north side — also proved a strong base of support for Frey in his reelection, according to a CNN analysis of voter data.

Frey said that while no demographic group is a monolith, White progressives in the aftermath of Floyd’s death often seemed out of sync with ordinary Black residents.

“I heard a lot of White activists purport to be speaking on behalf of communities of color. And I was listening to them — listening to communities of color — and they weren’t saying the same things,” Frey said. “I’d walk down the street and I’d hear from White people, ‘Defund the police! Defund the police!’ And then I’d hear from a Black person a half block later, ‘Hey, we really need to have some additional help.’”

Sheila Nezhad, a community organizer who turned out to be one of Frey’s most competitive mayoral opponents in November, noted that turnout was lower in north Minneapolis than the citywide average, and that the advocacy group — called Yes 4 Minneapolis — that proposed the ballot measure that came to be seen as the “defund” referendum was led by Black people.

“And I’m not White,” she said. “So when Jacob Frey talks about only White people want to defund or whatever … I think that he is perhaps shaping the narrative to benefit his political goals.”

Even before Floyd’s killing, the MPD had drawn criticism for its approach to policing the Black community.

In 2016, anti-police protests erupted after it was announced that two Minneapolis officers involved in the shooting death of Jamar Clark – a 24-year-old Black man who scuffled with the officers and, according to authorities, reached for one of their guns — would not be charged. Two years later, after responding to calls of a man shooting a gun in the air, police chased and fatally shot 31-year-old Thurman Blevins, who said “please don’t shoot me” as he ran away from them; body cameras showed officers yelling at him to drop his gun. Police say Blevins turned with his gun toward the officers, who ultimately were not charged.

And then came May 25, 2020. In a nine-minute video that seemed to last an eternity, a police officer defiantly knelt on the neck of a handcuffed, face-down Floyd, whose pleas for help went unanswered until he fell silent. Now infamous, the officer, Derek Chauvin – who’d already had 18 prior complaints filed against him – was convicted of Floyd’s murder and sentenced to 21 years in federal prison.

A person holds a sign displaying a portrait of George Floyd during a vigil at an art installation honoring victims of police burtaliuty in Minneapolis in June 2020. (Kerem Yucel/AFP/Getty Images) Kerem Yucel/AFP/Getty Images

“For me, it was a moment of deep grief,” said Nezhad, who still wants to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department. “And the days that followed offered a glimpse into just how ready so many people are for massive change.”

In April, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights released a report, two years in the making, charging that the Minneapolis department’s officers have engaged in a pattern or practice of race discrimination when conducting traffic stops or using force. It called for ordering a consent decree, which is essentially a court-enforced settlement to reform the department. The report also blasted the MPD for “ineffective accountability,” saying that “almost every investigation of a police misconduct complaint against an MPD officer … is assessed or guided by sworn MPD officers.”

The city is in negotiations with the human rights department over the consent decree, and Frey has indicated that some of his budget priorities are in direct response to the report.

Don Samuels — a former Minneapolis City Councilman who surprised political observers this summer by nearly defeating US Rep. Ilhan Omar, an icon of progressive politics in America — said the video of Floyd’s death was the most “evil thing I had ever seen.”

“That was so painful — just painful to watch and to see a Black man, of dark complexion, under the knee of a dispassionate White male,” Samuels said. “It conjured up all kinds of slavery imagery.”

And yet, Samuels, a 73-year-old immigrant from Jamaica — who lives in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of north Minneapolis — experienced another kind of dismay when he saw the nine council members on the Defund stage while watching the news on TV with his wife.

Don Samuels, the moderate Democrat who nearly unseated US Rep. Ilhan Omar on August 9, photographed in his home in north Minneapolis. Andrea Ellen Reed for CNN

“It was like a World Trade Center moment for us,” he told CNN. “Our jaws fell to the floor. Literally, we were aghast. We looked at each other and said, ‘Oh, my God. It’s going to be Crime City in Minneapolis.’”

That summer, Samuels joined the residents of north Minneapolis who sued the city for its police shortage. Half of the plaintiffs are Black.

During his campaign for Congress, Samuels ran a kind of middle-ground campaign on public safety.

“We don’t have to choose safety or police – we can have both/and,” Samuels said at a town hall campaign event in August. “Let’s get rid of the bad police, let’s fix the fixable police.”

He lost, but the “both/and” approach appears to be the current path that the city of Minneapolis is on.

‘Both-and’: A post-Defund approach

On a morning this August, in a scene that offered a sharp contrast from two years ago — when Mayor Frey made his “lonely walk” through an angry crowd — he and Commissioner Alexander, both smartly dressed, strode triumphantly through corridors of City Hall.

Alexander, a 67-year-old former deputy sheriff with a doctorate in psychology who was hand-picked by Frey, had just been confirmed as the city’s community safety commissioner in a contentious council meeting. His newly created position amounts to the first piece of Frey’s proposed plan to combine 911, police, fire, neighborhood safety and emergency management under one roof.

Cedric Alexander speaks about policing in America during CivicCon at the Rex Theatre in downtown Pensacola, Florida, in September 2021. (Gregg Pachkowski/News-Journal/USA Today Network) Gregg Pachkowski/USA Today Network

“The number one, first priority is the fact that people in this community don’t feel that they’re safe,” said Alexander — who served on the 21st Century Task Force on Policing under former President Barack Obama — during an impromptu press conference minutes after his hiring. “The fact is that we have violent crime that’s occurring, and occurring way too frequently.”

Alexander, who retired in 2017 as the public safety director in DeKalb County, Georgia, in the metro Atlanta area, added that the MPD isn’t likely to become fully staffed overnight — “probably not even in our careers” — and stressed the importance of data-driven policing and building relationships.

“If we don’t build relationships with these people in our communities, you ain’t solving crime nowhere,” said Alexander, a former CNN contributor on law enforcement issues.

Osler, the St. Thomas professor, said at the moment, people don’t want to work for the MPD, “where officers are not respected. And to be straight-up about it, MPD earned that lack of respect.”

In the meantime, he said, the department needs to focus on two key metrics: improving homicide clearance rates and executing search warrants for violent criminals, which, Osler acknowledged, is no easy feat.

“Think about it from the perspective of the person executing that warrant,” Osler said. “You’re going to bust down the door and who you know is on the other side is someone who’s probably already shot somebody. That’s a tough job. No wonder people don’t want to do it.”

Exterior of the police department's 3rd Precinct in south Minneapolis that was burned by rioters in May of 2020. To this day it remains boarded up. Its officers are currently headquartered a few miles away downtown. Andrea Ellen Reed for CNN

On the policy front, the wheels of change seem to be grinding forward, however slowly.

Since Gov. Tim Walz signed a police accountability law two years ago that banned chokeholds and “warrior” style police training, the city of Minneapolis appears to be finding a path forward that avoids having to choose between building the police force and reimagining public safety. The city is not only looking at further beefing up the police budget but is also piloting a slate of programs that send unarmed responders to nonviolent 911 calls. Mayor Frey has proposed making them permanent in his recommended budget for 2023-2024.

Frey argues that the centerpiece of his proposed public safety plan – creating a new Office of Community Safety — captures much of what the “defund” movement was after in the first place.

The concept is to “match the best possible people with what is actually being experienced on the street,” Frey said. “Anybody who was for that before but is not for it now is pretty disingenuous.”

When it comes to hiring, the MPD is trying to entice young blood with incentives — for instance by covering the cost of tuition for potential recruits who need law-enforcement coursework but only have a high school degree. It’s a big challenge — not just because so many officers have left, but also because there is a shortage of young people across the country getting into law enforcement, Alexander said.

The city has made headway when it comes to filling the top job: Frey recently announced three finalists — all of them from outside Minneapolis — for the permanent chief position, which Huffman has filled on an interim basis since December.

Last summer, the police presence in the city was so thin — and the rate of violence so high — that a group of volunteers in the faith community went to heroic measures to break the cycle.

The idea was simple. In an initiative called 21 Days of Peace, church volunteers simply hung out in some of the most deadly neighborhoods to engage in violence prevention.

The effort was considered a success, but for one volunteer it came at a cost.

Gloria Howard, a grandmother, had just handed out snow cones to two women with young children at one of the violence hotspots near a liquor store on Broadway Avenue when a barrage of gunfire sent people scattering.

Howard crumpled to the ground. When she tried to get up, she couldn’t — she’d been shot twice.

Gloria Howard, a survivor of gun violence, poses for a portrait a few yards away from where she was struck by bullets in north Minneapolis. She was serving snow cones as a volunteer for 21 Days of Peace when it happened. Andrea Ellen Reed for CNN

People from a nearby church rushed out of the building to render aid and call the police.

“When I got to the hospital, the doctors were like, ‘Well, you’re some lucky lady and you must be somebody special because you have no metal fragments in your body,’” Howard said. The bullets, she said, “went through and through.”

Howard, who was against the “defund” initiative, said there are specific reforms she would like to see, starting with a push to require more officers to live in the city they serve.

(A 2017 Star Tribune report found that just 8% of MPD officers lived in Minneapolis. Chauvin lived in the suburb of Oakdale, where nearly 72% of the residents are White.)

“All Black men are not big and scary,” Howard said. “All Black women are not angry. So, you know, you have to be able to know the community.”

But she realizes that even with such reforms, improvement would take time.

“I don’t even walk Broadway anymore,” Howard said, while eying the thoroughfare from a distance, close to where she was shot. “I’ve seen the cars speeding up and down when they’re chasing each other. And then when they start shooting, it can come from anywhere. So I don’t even do that anymore. And I never used to be afraid coming over here.”

Rob Kuznia. Photographs Andrea Ellen Reed For Cnn

Paris shooting: Police fire teargas to quell protesters after three ...

CNN —

French police on Friday fired teargas amid clashes with agitated protesters outside a Kurdish community center in the heart of Paris, where a gunman earlier killed three people and injured four others in an attack with possible racist underpinnings.

All three people killed inside and near the Kurdish Cultural Center Ahmet-Kaya on Rue d’Enghien were Kurds, the center’s lawyer confirmed to CNN.

The suspected attacker, a 69-year-old French man with a long criminal record, has been arrested.

He was not part of any far-right groups monitored by the police, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told journalists at the scene. “He (the suspect) clearly wanted to take it out on foreigners,” Darmanin said.

Clashes with dozens of protesters, mostly from the Kurdish diaspora, broke out during Darmanin’s visit to the site of the attack on Friday.

Police fired tear gas to disperse an increasingly agitated crowd in central Paris, soon after a gunman killed three Kurdish people during a shooting at a community center. Lewis Joly/AP

While the shooting has not been designated a terrorist attack, Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said earlier on Friday that investigators are not ruling out possible “racist motivations” behind the shooting.

“When it comes to racist motivations, of course these elements are part of the investigation that was just launched,” Beccuau said.

French President Emmanuel Macron deplored the “heinous attack” where “the Kurds of France have been the target,” in a Twitter post on Thursday.

Following the incident, crowds gathered near the community center. Kiran Ridley/Getty Images

“My thoughts to the victims, to the people who are fighting to live, to their families and loved ones. My gratitude to our law enforcement forces for their courage and calmness,” Macron said.

Police in Paris and across France have been ordered to protect Kurdish sites and Turkish diplomatic institutions following the attack, according to Darmanin.

He has also asked the French president and prime minister to allow Kurdish people, who want to hold demonstrations, to do so.

Previous record

The shooting suspect was released from detention less than two weeks ago as a court is still investigating his previous involvement in violence with a “racist nature,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

He was convicted twice, in 2017 and 2022, for committing gun violence. An investigation was also launched by a Paris court in 2021 for violence “with a racist nature,” according to the statement.

Emergency services attended the scene of the shooting, where a gunman opened fire at the Kurdish Cultural Center Ahmet-Kaya in Paris. Lewis Joly/AP

The last incident led to his getting put under pre-trial detention while the court conducts an investigation.

“At this stage, there is no evidence that this man is affiliated with any extremist ideological movement,” the statement said.

Following the incident, crowds gathered near the center, where people of Kurdish descent were heard chanting the Kurdish phrase “Şehid Namirin,” which means: Those who are lost are never really lost but with us, according to CNN’s team on the ground.

Darmanin called on the French president and prime minister to allow Kurdish people who wanted to protest, following the fatal shooting. Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images

Some people were also heard chanting “Murderer Erdogan,” in a reference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s robust stance against Kurdish nationalism, and his policies towards Kurdish far-left militant and political groups based in Turkey and Iraq.

In the aftermath of the attack, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his “deepest sympathies” to Kurdish people in France in a post on Twitter. “My thoughts are with the members of the Kurdish community and people of France on this sad day,” Blinken added.

In 2013, three Kurdish political activists were killed in central Paris, including the founding member of the Kurdish Workers’ Party. All three women were shot in the head in the apparent assassination.

Xiaofei Xu Niamh Kennedy Joseph Ataman Mohammed Tawfeeq