https://www.twincities.com/2020/05/...trying-to-steal-items-from-target-store/What appeared to start as impromptu demonstrations for George Floyd, the man who died in Minneapolis police custody, turned into a day of scattered arson, looting and significant destruction of retail shops in St. Paul’s Midway and elsewhere in the capital city on Thursday.
The unrest continued into the evening — more than 170 businesses were damaged or looted, and dozens of fires were set, according to police. There were no reports of serious injuries in St. Paul.
Gov. Tim Walz announced he was calling up the National Guard Thursday afternoon after receiving requests from St. Paul and Minneapolis.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Cater and Police Chief Todd Axtell said groups of young people were traveling around the city in groups of up to 20 vehicles — many without license plates in an attempt to go undetected — and breaking into businesses and looting.
Carter said Thursday the “anguish, the anger, the anguish, the sadness, the rage that we’re seeing in the community, it’s understandable. And I think it’s shared by a whole lot of people throughout humanity right now who have looked at that video (of Floyd) and just said, ‘That doesn’t feel like the kind of community, the kind of state, the kind of city, the kind of country, the kind of world that I want to live in.'”
But Carter said his plea was that people channel their energy toward honoring Floyd and preventing something similar from happening again.
Floyd, 46, died Monday after a Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck when Floyd was handcuffed on the ground. Protests erupted in Minneapolis, and people began looting and setting fires on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, people’s anger also overflowed into St. Paul and other places braced for the potential for unrest.
Rosedale Center and Maplewood Mall shut down as a precaution on Thursday, and the Roseville mall will remain closed Friday. Roseville police said several businesses had been impacted by attempted theft and burglaries. And Target announced that 24 of its stores in the Twin Cities are closed until further notice.
The Mall of America was set to officially reopen Monday, after it has been closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but tenants were told Thursday that the date will be pushed out and will be announced when it’s finalized.
On St. Paul’s Grand Avenue, where a liquor store had its windows broken out, people boarded up windows on restaurants near Lexington Parkway, also as a precaution. A pawn shop in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood had a window smashed.
Metro Transit suspended bus and rail service in the Twin Cities through the weekend.
All state agencies that operate out of the Capitol complex in St. Paul are closed Friday, state employees have been told.
As the day wore on, all sense of law and order had completely broken down on the commercial stretch of University Avenue east of Snelling Avenue in the Midway neighborhood.
It appears to have started around 11:30 a.m., when St. Paul police were initially called to the Target on University Avenue. They found 50 to 60 people running into the store, grabbing merchandise and running out, said Steve Linders, a police spokesman.
When police arrived, people dropped merchandise and ran away, Linders said, a pattern that would repeat itself countless times throughout the afternoon.
Soon after, some people in the Target parking lot chanted, “No justice, no peace,” and a few held signs. While numerous people said they were there for justice for Floyd, there was no evidence of organized demonstrators. People said they heard on social media and traditional media about people gathering and those present were mostly teens and young adults.
“Can you please put in the paper that people like us are here being peaceful?” pleaded Rhianna Lindsey, who stayed in her vehicle with her son, Jayden, uncomfortable with the situation. “There’s no reason for more violence.”
An officer estimated there were at least 200 people in the University Avenue Target parking lot shortly after 2 p.m., and they described the crowd as increasingly hostile. After police gave orders for people to leave, police used a chemical irritant to disperse the group.
The activity worsened as the day went on, with groups of officers in riot gear responding as people were seen breaking store windows, going inside and taking things, and setting fires. Young drivers sped around parking lots, often with a passenger seated on the passenger door, hanging out the open window, his or her cell phone apparently recording or streaming the scene.
A pattern developed: A store with no police nearby would be looted, starting with teenage or young adult males smashing windows and culminating with a rush of people running in and running out, arms full of merchandise. In one instance, a man repeatedly backed his car into a garage door of Discount Tire, eventually breaking it.
Then the police would come, often dispersing the crowd with gas or projectiles. As they secured the location, looters would hit a different stretch of stores. Once the police left an area, looters would return.
Once inside, some would set fires. There were fires at NAPA Auto Parts, T.J. Maxx, The UPS Store, Furniture Barn and other Midway businesses. The NAPA building collapsed Thursday night.
