The St. Paul Police Department pushed back Friday as social media posters accused one if its officers of instigating property damage as hundreds gathered to protest the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“It’s malicious and it’s character assassination,” St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders said.
A white male dressed in black, wearing a large gas mask and holding an umbrella was caught on video smashing windows of an AutoZone shop in the early evening Wednesday, before protests escalated into large-scale property damage that destroyed several businesses in the area of East Lake Street. Twitter posters quickly identified the man, whose face was largely covered, as a St. Paul police officer — and later an Eagan police officer.
Those accusations were still spreading Friday evening.
Linders said the officer in question was not in the area at the time because he was working alongside Minneapolis firefighters.
“I want people to know about this and know it’s not true,” he said. “This has spread so far and so wide that the only thing we can do is tell the truth.”
Eagan police also released a statement via Twitter, saying it had been “made aware of a social media post that falsely identifies one of our officers as the person caught on video breaking windows in Minneapolis. We have seen the photo and this person does not work for the Eagan Police Department.”
The Eagan Police Department has been made aware of a social media post that falsely identifies one of our officers as the person caught on video breaking windows in Minneapolis. We have seen the photo and this person does not work for the Eagan Police Department.
— Eagan Police (@EaganPolice) May 29, 2020
In the video, a protester is seen trying to stop the man from breaking windows, and others follow him away as he leaves, one asking, “Are you a cop?”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison made reference to the video while speaking to a cable network early Thursday evening and asked protesters to continue to document “suspicious people doing damage.”
“I urge all the protesters, don’t let somebody tear down the good reputation of your righteous protest,” he said. “Take pictures of these people that might be provocateurs. That evidence is on YouTube; I urge people to take a look at it and see they can identify that guy.”
RUMOR CONTROL …
We are aware of the social media post that erroneously identifies one of our officers as the person caught on video breaking windows in Minneapolis.
We've seen it. We've looked into it. And it's false.
— Saint Paul Police Department (@sppdmn) May 29, 2020
Asked if he believed some of those who looted businesses and burned down buildings were from out of state, or not actually protesting Floyd’s death, Gov. Tim Walz said Friday, “I’m not going to speculate on that.”
“I think we can’t tell that right now,” he added, “but I think much of how all this happened, certainly all the things that have led to this, this is Minnesota, and I think we need to find out. I don’t think it changes that calculus of how we got to this, how do we responded to it? We own it.”
