Three Arrested in Minneapolis Protest Shooting

24 Nov, 2015

Minneapolis police said Tuesday that they arrested four men in connection with the shooting. Law enforcement sources identified one as Allen Lawrence “Lance” Scarsella III, a 23-year-old white man, arrested in Bloomington. Sources said Nathan Gustavsson, 21, of Hermantown, and Daniel Macey, 26, of Pine City, were taken into custody after they turned themselves in.

Police also arrested a 32-year-old Hispanic man in south Minneapolis midday Tuesday, but he was later released, police said, because he was not at the scene of the shooting.

Authorities have said they are weighing whether to treat Monday’s shooting as a hate crime, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

In a video message posted on Facebook, Mayor Betsy Hodges said she “abhors” Monday night’s violence and that “those attacks have no place in our city.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau on Twitter called the officers “true professionals” and noted that “MPD worked nonstop through the night to bring justice in last night’s shooting.” She did not comment further on the shooting Tuesday.

The gunfire erupted around 10:45 p.m. Monday on Morgan Avenue N. about a block north of the precinct station where protesters have staged demonstrations and camped out since Nov. 15, when police fatally shot Jamar Clark, an unarmed 24-year-old black man.

Miski Noor, a media contact for Black Lives Matter, said “a group of white supremacists showed up at the protest, as they have done most nights.”

When about a dozen protesters attempted to herd the group away from the area, Noor said, they “opened fire on about six protesters,” hitting five of them. The victims — all black men ages 19 through 43 — were taken to local hospitals. Their injuries were not life threatening.

Star Tribune

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