State troopers in Minnesota seen on video KNIFING tires of parked cars – some belonging to the press – but claim cars were ‘strategically deflated’, containing items like rocks and concrete
- Clip shows militarized police units slashing tires at a Kmart at Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue on May 30, five days after the tragic death of George Floyd
- Additional clips show officers also slashing tires on a highway overpass on May 31
- Department of Public Safety spokesman Bruce Gordon did confirm that tires were cut in ‘a few locations’
- ‘State Patrol troopers strategically deflated tires … in order to stop behaviors such as vehicles driving dangerously and at high speeds,’ Gordon said
- Gordon claimed that targeted vehicles ‘contained items used to cause harm during violent protests’ such as rocks and concrete
- But footage shared by producer Andrew Kimmel showed that his own tires had been slashed as well
Law enforcement agencies in Minneapolis ‘strategically deflated tires’ in vehicles that were parked and unoccupied in various locations throughout the city following the death of George Floyd.
Footage shows militarized police units slashing tires at a Kmart located at Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue on May 30, five days after the tragic death of Floyd after former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Additional clips show officers also slashing tires on a highway overpass on May 31.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Bruce Gordon did confirm that tires were cut in ‘a few locations’
Armed patrol officers seen slashing tires in footage shared by Mother Jones
Department of Public Safety spokesman Bruce Gordon did confirm that tires were cut in ‘a few locations.’
‘State Patrol troopers strategically deflated tires … in order to stop behaviors such as vehicles driving dangerously and at high speeds in and around protesters and law enforcement,’ Gordon said in a statement to the Star Tribune.
Gordon claimed that targeted vehicles ‘contained items used to cause harm during violent protests’ such as rocks and concrete.
‘State Patrol troopers strategically deflated tires … in order to stop behaviors such as vehicles driving dangerously and at high speeds in and around protesters and law enforcement,’ Gordon said in a statement
But footage shared by producer Andrew Kimmel showed that his own tires had been slashed, as well.
‘It was every single car that was in the parking lot,’ said Kimmel. ‘I’ve never seen the tire slashing before, particularly in a parking lot.’
Anoka County deputies said they followed state orders and joined the patrol, cutting tires on vehicles on Washington Avenue, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Andy Knotz.
Knotz added that the directive came from the state-led Multiagency Command Center (MACC).
He also stressed that towing the vehicles wasn’t an option because ‘you could not get any tow trucks in there’ during the protests.
