Minnesota cops arrested 24 people for rioting and curfew violations in the fourth night of protests over Daunte Wright’s police shooting death — with one man mocking officers by parading a severed pig’s head on a stake.
Law enforcement officers clear an area of demonstrators during a protest over the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 in Minnesota. AP Photo/John MinchilloIn a press conference early Thursday, officials said most of those arrested were from outside Brooklyn Center, according to the Star Tribune.
A man holds a severed pig’s head amid the protests in Minnesota. Brian Feinzimer/Sipa USAThe protest — the same day ex-cop Kim Potter was arrested on manslaughter charges for Wright’s death — had been mostly calmer than previous nights, with no apparent looting, law enforcement said.
Protesters gather outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department as dozens of National Guard members and police behind fences deployed pepper balls and pepper spray into the crowd on April 14, 2021. Stephen Yang for NY PostOne protester raising a real stink was a man who proudly walked around for hours with a severed pig’s head wearing a cop’s hat, carried on a stake with an American flag.
The man, who refused to give his name but said he was a Navy veteran, justified his actions — as well as those of his comrades — by claiming that Potter “essentially works for an occupying force,” Fox News reported.
A demonstrator holds an American flag as he speaks to the crowd outside the Brooklyn Center police station while protesting the death of Daunte Wright, who was shot and killed by a police officer on April 11, 2021. KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty ImagesPotter’s fatal shooting of 20-year-old dad Wright, he continued, “is not manslaughter. It is an act of war.”
Protesters embrace outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department on April 14, 2021 in Minnesota. Stephen Yang for NY PostPotter, a 26-year veteran, was training another officer when she stopped and then shot Wright Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn Center, less than 10 miles from where George Floyd died in an arrest last May.
Demonstrators brandish a pig’s head on a pike and fly a Black Lives Matter flag outside the Brooklyn Center police station on April 14, 2021. KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty ImagesShe was arrested Wednesday and later freed after posting a $100,000 bond and is due to make her first court appearance Thursday.
A protester holds up a pig’s head wearing a police cap on a stick outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department in Minnesota on April 14, 2021.REUTERS/Nick Pfosi