ST. CLOUD, MN – Police in St. Cloud say that an armed suspect shot a police officer in the hand during an attempt to place the suspect in custody. However, misinformation that floated around the event nearly led to more chaos in Minnesota.
‘This Place Could Have Been On Fire Over A Lie’: St. Cloud Police Chief Admonishes Those Spreading Rumors After Officer Was Shot Overnight https://t.co/9Rp7MJf7Ii pic.twitter.com/2jjm9l4nwD
— WCCO – CBS Minnesota (@WCCO) June 15, 2020
The incident that resulted in a police officer being shot was being portrayed rather differently online by social media users – proclaiming that police had shot a black teenager in the back during an interaction that took place around midnight on June 15th.
Despite police being authorized to use deadly force against the suspect in the scenario, no officer opened fire at the 18-year-old suspect who shot the officer’s hand. However, with as quick as misinformation spreads, a crowd descended at the St. Cloud police station within minutes after the false narrative circulated.
Police Chief Blair Anderson stated the following on June 15th about the reaction to false news being spread:
“It is abhorrent to me that within minutes, the story that went out went out. This place could have been on fire over a lie. You want to see what community policing looks like? Come to St. Cloud and we’ll show you.”
Protesters pelt a St. Cloud, Minnesota police building after rumors were that police officers shot someone, but it was the other way around.
“We’re in dangerous territory right now,” says St. Cloud police Chief Blair Anderson pic.twitter.com/cGvIyqgQnT
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) June 16, 2020
The crowd that had gathered in front of the police station were said to have thrown rocks and defaced nearby buildings in response to being ill-informed by social-medialites. The knee-jerk reaction by the group that aimed to harass and vandalize the police station resulted in four arrests.
The actual encounter that took place between the injured officer and the unharmed suspect occurred within the 1000 block of 10th Avenue South. Police were responding to social media activity that showed an armed man in the area, and then confronted an armed 18-year-old suspect.
When police were trying to place the suspect into custody, the suspect allegedly produced a handgun and fired at the officer. In an amazing display of restraint (or possibly fear of the ramifications of even justifiably shooting an armed, black suspect), police did not open fire at the suspect, but were able to subdue him and place him into custody.
The unidentified officer wounded during the altercation was transported to a local hospital, and underwent surgery for the sustained gunshot wound. The officer was only described as being a 14-year veteran for the police department.
The officer who was shot is a 14-year veteran of the police department, according to Police Chief Blair Anderson. https://t.co/60d0A6bZ8f
— St. Cloud Times (@sctimes) June 16, 2020
As for the suspect, whose name has not yet been released, he was arrested under charges of second-degree assault. In the meantime, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is handling the investigation.
This isn’t the first time a narrative was thrown out into the ether in order to defame police before the facts set the record straight.
It seems like there’s no end to people claiming to be victims of “police brutality” and assault – even when they’re literally trying to block a police vehicle on the street and continue to get in the vehicle’s path while the driver is actively trying to avoid them.
In Virginia, the Richmond Police Department released a statement about a video that has been making the rounds online where people are proclaiming there was some egregious act of police running over protesters with an SUV on June 13th.
Officer backs up
Officer jumps curb to avoid crowd
Natural selection compels crowd to reposition in front of the SUV
People get tipped over and claim police brutality
*shocked Pikachu face*#DoNotBlockCars #TrumpNowMoreThanEver2020 https://t.co/O6fLwlDIRo— Greg Hoyt (@GregHoytLET) June 15, 2020
Except, anyone who watches the video can clearly see the officer is trying to avoid the protesters who then continue to actively “box in” the police vehicle. Due to their actions, a couple of people get tipped over.
According to the RPD, not only do their investigators agree that the officer operating the police vehicle did no wrong, but noted that some of these demonstrators present were the only engaged in criminal activity.
Refuting the claims where protesters alleged that the police officer “mowed down” the demonstrators, police say that the protesters present damaged the police SUV and attempted to assault the officers inside:
“A protester held onto the side of the police vehicle as it attempted to leave. The person then fell backwards over a bicycle as the officers were trying to leave the area again. As the officers drove away, protesters continued to throw more objects at the police SUV.”
The Richmond Police Department has released a statement in response to Saturday night’s incident near Monument Avenue. https://t.co/8h2K61w9Vk
— 8News WRIC Richmond (@8NEWS) June 15, 2020
Obviously, these “protesters” missed the lesson that most parents taught their kids – don’t play in the street.
Furthermore, in the state of Virginia, there’s a couple of laws (outside of laws related to the vehicular damage done to the police SUV) that can be cited as being violated by the demonstrators. Namely, § 18.2-47 and § 46.2-818.
Virginia code § 46.2-818 relates to literally stopping a vehicle illegally. The state code plainly states that one cannot just block a vehicle:
“No person shall intentionally and willfully…stop the vehicle of another for the sole purpose of impeding its progress on the highways, except in the case of an emergency or mechanical breakdown.”
Despite what any progressive would say, engaging in a protest isn’t an “emergency.”
However, once you start trying to box in a vehicle, as seen in the video, while the driver is trying to find an alternate route to leave the area – then you’ve just opened a whole new box of worms. That is when someone enters the realm of § 18.2-47, which is the kidnapping and abduction law.
According to Section A of the Virginia state code regarding kidnapping/abduction, the following defines the criminal act as such:
“Any person who, by force, intimidation or deception, and without legal justification or excuse, seizes, takes, transports, detains or secretes another person with the intent to deprive such other person of his personal liberty or to withhold or conceal him from any person, authority or institution lawfully entitled to his charge, shall be deemed guilty of ‘abduction.’”
Considering the wide range of verbiage present in the state code, it wouldn’t be difficult to allege kidnapping from what is seen on the video.
— Eggroll (@FlaccidEggroll) June 12, 2020
The fact that there even exists a divided take on blocking cars – especially police vehicles – and then proclaiming a victim status while continuously trying to get in front of a slow-moving vehicle is laughable.
Long story short, blocking and impeding one’s free movement isn’t peaceful protesting – it’s a criminal act.
As for the status of the investigation in Richmond, there were no injury reports that were filed regarding the protesters present on N. Allen Avenue that evening, according to the RPD. Now, police are trying to determine the identities of those individuals who were present during the incident, so that appropriate charges can be filed.
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