Rioters Archives - The Minnesota Sun

Minneapolis to Award $600,000 to Rioters Who Sustained Injuries During 2020 Riots

December 3, 2022December 2, 2022 Minnesota Sun Staff

On Wednesday, a federal court gave approval to a plan by the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota to reward 12 Black Lives Matter rioters with a collective total of $600,000 over injuries they sustained during said riots.

The Daily Caller reports that the court’s decision settled a lawsuit originally filed by the far-left American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLU-MN) on behalf of the rioters, and subsequently forbids the city of Minneapolis from using force to suppress violent riots. The injunction by the Minnesota U.S. District Court also forces all Minneapolis police officers who are deployed to riots to wear body-cameras, and limits the police force’s use of chemical agents for dispelling riots.

Minnesota Arsonist Who Attacked Target Headquarters During Nicollet Mall Riot Sentenced to 100 Months in Prison

January 2, 2022January 1, 2022 Minnesota Sun Staff

Victor Devon Edwards, 34, of St. Paul traveled to Minneapolis during the Nicollet Mall riot in August 2020 where he was caught on video looting and committing arson. Earlier this week he was sentenced to 100 months behind bars.

The Nicollet riot occurred after online rumors spread that police had killed a black person outside the mall. In reality, a fleeing murder suspect actually killed himself — but this didn’t stop the looters who smashed, grabbed and burned their way through luxury stores and other buildings in what has since been praised in a local outlet as a “mini-rebellion of the alienated dispossessed.”

While the majority of rioters seem to have evaded punishment, one trio has been put under the law enforcement microscope for their roles in the chaos. Edwards is one of these men and was recently convicted and sentenced for causing just over $941,000 of damage to the Target headquarters in addition to looting and burning other buildings.

Commentary: Very Fine People

November 10, 2021November 9, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Large group of people storming Washington D.C. in protest on January 6.

Jacob Anthony Chansley, who also goes by the name Jake Angeli, was one of the people who made their way into the chamber of the U.S. Senate in the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to protest the Senate’s impending certification of state electors who would install Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States. His name may not register, but his image will: he was the fellow bizarrely attired in a coyote-fur hat sprouting black buffalo horns; shirtless, showing his muscular but heavily tattooed torso; sporting black gloves and a red knapsack; face painted in vertical red, white, and blue stripes; and carrying an American flag on a spear.

The disorderly intrusion of several hundred protesters into the Capitol was quickly characterized by the media, and by many politicians, as an “insurrection.” Moreover, the accusation of insurrection was applied to the many thousands of Trump supporters in Washington that day who had nothing to do with the intrusion into the Capitol. And that characterization became the basis for the House of Representatives to impeach President Trump for supposedly inciting the “insurrection” and the impetus for Joe Biden to order 26,000 National Guard troops to defend Washington during his inauguration on January 20.

As it happened, there was no insurrection.

Missouri Governor Pardons St. Louis Couple Who Defended Their Home from Rioters

August 9, 2021August 8, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R-Mo.) issued a pardon for the St. Louis couple that successfully defended their home from far-left terrorists last year, after local prosecutors had sought to charge them with a crime, according to ABC News.

Governor Parson made the announcement on Tuesday, following up on a promise he had made previously to pardon Mark and Patricia McCloskey if they were charged. The couple, who are both lawyers, responded to a mob of rioters storming into their gated suburb by standing outside their house with firearms, with Mark wielding a rifle and Patricia holding a handgun. The incident took place in June of last year, at the height of the race riots that burned numerous cities across the country.

After the mob broke through a gate that led into the neighborhood and began shouting violent threats at the various homes in the area, the McCloskeys stood their ground and ordered the mob to leave. The incident was captured on video and went viral, with the McCloskeys being hailed as heroes for standing up to a mob that vastly outnumbered them.

Commentary: Florida’s DeSantis Is America’s Great Right Hope

July 12, 2021July 11, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Democratic Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gavin Newsom of California, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan shatter everything they touch. Ron DeSantis, conversely, seems to get everything right. The Florida Republican has emerged as America’s governor.

“We’re standing with our folks. We’re going to do the right thing. We leaned into it, and we stood strong,” DeSantis told Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently.

Rather than snip a tax, kill a regulation, and then doze off, as too many Republicans have done, DeSantis is a tireless, full-spectrum conservative. He has authorized a host of economic, cultural, and law enforcement initiatives that are buoying Florida and transforming him into the Great Right Hope.

New York City Drops Majority of Rioting and Looting Cases from 2020

June 22, 2021June 21, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Several borough District Attorneys in the city of New York have controversially decided to drop the majority of cases against rioters and looters who were arrested over the course of the last year, as reported by Breitbart.

The report first came from NBC New York, which says that “data reviewed by the NBC New York I-Team shows 118 arrests were made in the Bronx during the worst of the looting in early June.” Of those 118 cases, the Bronx DA has dismissed 73 cases, leaving only 45. There are still 18 cases open, and there have been just 19 convictions so far.

“In Manhattan,” the report continues, “the NYPD data shows there were 485 arrests. Of those cases, 222 were later dropped and 73 seeing convictions…another 40 cases involved juveniles and were sent to family court; 128 cases remain open.”

Thousands of Minnesotans Petition to Reinstall Columbus Statue

May 10, 2021May 9, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Christopher Columbus Statue Torn Down at Minnesota State Capitol

Almost 5,000 concerned Minnesotans signed a petition asking the governor to reinstall the statue of Christopher Columbus that was torn down by protesters last June.

The statue was on display at the Capitol building for almost 100 years before being destroyed by members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) last summer.

Over 100 Portland Police Officers Have Quit Over the Last Year

April 6, 2021April 5, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

After almost a year of nonstop violent riots by Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and other far-left domestic terrorist organizations in the city of Portland, over 100 of the city’s police officers have quit the force out of protest of the city’s failure to adequately handle the violence, according to Fox News.

The report first came from the newspaper The Oregonian, which said that since July of 2020, approximately 115 officers have left the department to take lower-paying jobs just to get out of the dangerous environment. The paper described it as “one of the biggest waves of departures in recent memory.”

Out of 31 exit interviews from officers who left during this time period, the general consensus was that the officers quit because they felt that they were receiving “zero support” from the community and local leadership. One officer said that “the city council are raging idiots, in addition to being stupid,” and that “the mayor and council ignore actual facts on crime and policing in favor of radical leftist and anarchist fantasy.”

As a result of the spike in riots, which began last summer after the accidental overdose death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, Portland also saw its homicide rate surge to its highest point in 26 years, with 55 deaths over the course of 2020. Numerous efforts by Mayor Ted Wheeler (D-Ore.) to try to curb gun violence in the city, through special police forces and various multi-million dollar studies, have all failed thus far. Wheeler and other local leaders were widely criticized for refusing to crack down on the riots, with their inaction attributed to the fact that they shared many of the same political stances as the far-left rioters.

Ohio Prosecutors Support Bill to Force Convicted Rioters to Pay for Damages

March 9, 2021 The Center Square

Last summer, millions of dollars in taxpayer money were spent in response to protests that turned violent throughout Ohio. A bill proposed in the Ohio Senate looks to make sure those responsible will pay for it.

Senate Bill 41, currently being discussed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, calls for restitution from those who are convicted of property damage during riots, including vandalism. The restitution would pay the expenses of police and emergency crews who have to respond to riots. The bill also allows the government to take possession of any property left behind by those who end up convicted.

State Senator Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, is sponsoring the bill. Lou Tobin, the Executive Director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, offered his support before the committee recently.

Trump Campaign Discusses Biden’s Hands-Off Approach to Violent Rioters

September 1, 2020August 31, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

President Donald Trump’s campaign issued a statement addressing Joe Biden’s reluctance to take on violent leftist rioters.

“Joe Biden just yesterday indicated he would not send the National Guard into cities and states where left-wing mobs are rioting – in Portland’s case, for more than three months. Last month he issued a written statement specifically about Portland, in which he called the rioters ‘peaceful protestors’ and accused federal law enforcement officers of ‘stoking the fires of division’ while the mob was literally setting fire to the federal courthouse. …”

Trump Campaign Discusses Biden’s Hands-Off Approach to Violent Rioters

September 1, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

President Donald Trump’s campaign issued a statement addressing Joe Biden’s reluctance to take on violent leftist rioters.

Minneapolis Riots Reignite After Video Release of Homicide Suspect’s Death

August 28, 2020August 27, 2020 Corinne Murdock

The video of a Black homicide suspect’s death reignited riots in Minneapolis on Wednesday. His identity has not been disclosed.

Rumor spread quickly that a police officer who drew his weapon moments prior to the incident was really the one who shot the man, according to KTSP.

Commentary: Reckoning with the Riots

July 29, 2020July 28, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

The showdown is coming over urban violence in America. The continuing rioting and destruction erupting in new cities every few days is almost certain to provide yet another profound demarcation of opinion over how to govern the United States and address the problems that have so stirred the country since the killing of African American George Floyd by a white Minneapolis policeman on May 25. America’s toleration of a completely unjustifiable level of general violence compared to anything in its past demonstrates considerable progress in civility and restraint in the past 50 years.

AG Barr: There Are Roughly 500 Active Investigations into Arson, Destruction of Property Stemming from Riots

June 27, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Attorney General William Barr said Thursday that the Department of Justice is conducting about 500 investigations into acts of arson and destruction associated with the protests and riots over the past several weeks.

The DOJ is ramping up investigations into the activists who participated in destruction of private and public property over the last several weeks, Barr said during an episode of the Verdict podcast with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Media Focus on Driver Who Hit Agitator During Louisville ‘Protest’ That Led to 17 Arrests

June 24, 2020June 23, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

A small but chaotic protest in Louisville, Kentucky, last Wednesday led to seventeen arrests, five cars towed, and one confiscated gun, but for some reason, the local media initially focused like a laser beam on a panicked woman in a car that struck a “protester.”

Louisville has seen unrest since May 28 over the shooting of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, a unarmed black woman killed by police during a shootout in her apartment. The incident happened during a no-knock raid for drugs in her apartment on March 13.