HEARTS AND MINDS: Minneapolis Police Shoot Pepperballs At Residents Watching From Their Doorways by John Boch, May 31, 2020 Minneapolis Police have a unique way of winning the hearts and minds of their city’s residents following the death of George Floyd. They swept through neighborhoods late Saturday not far from the rioting, pointing guns at residents in their doorways and shooting them with pepperballs if they didn’t retreat indoors fast enough. This was the very same day that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey made it "very, very clear" that it wasn’t local residents who have been destroying his city. From WAVE: "I want to be very, very clear," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said during the press conference. "The people that are doing this are not Minneapolis residents. They are coming in largely from outside of this city, outside of the region, to prey on everything we have built over the last several decades." Yes, Minnesota cops need help with public relations. After the notorious video showed (now former) Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of George Floyd for eight minutes, one would think the Gopher State’s law enforcement types would do what they can to engender trust and positive relations with residents. But no. For three nights, America watched the police in Minneapolis show utter passivity towards the feral mobs. Police there stood by and watched the troublemakers loot hundreds of businesses and destroy or burn many of them to the ground. Then Saturday evening, cops, backed by 5000 National Guard troops, opted for rude and harsh with the local taxpayers who pay their salaries. MPD officers in riot gear swarmed through residential neighborhoods... not the streets where the burning and looting were taking place. They harshly ordering residents inside their homes. Even those peaceably watching from their doorways. This happened next: https://mobile.twitter.com/tkerssen/...21821653385225 You could hear at least one of the cops shout "Light them up!" when the residents didn’t move quickly enough. Local CBS TV station WCCO picked up on the story and reported on it. A video posted to Twitter Saturday night is going viral after apparently showing law enforcement in Minneapolis shooting paint rounds at residents on their porch after curfew went into effect. Tanya Kerssen posted the video to Twitter shortly after 9:30 p.m., showing what she says is the Minnesota National Guard and Minneapolis police sweeping her residential street in the Whittier Neighborhood. In the video, the officers are seen approaching the residents and repeatedly yelling at them to get inside their house. After a few demands, one can be heard yelling "light 'em up!" That’s when one officer appears to fire a paint round at the residents, who run inside. Meanwhile, a WCCO photographer was struck by a rubber bullet and arrested by the State Patrol Saturday night. He was released from custody after a couple hours. The Minnesota State Police also shot a clearly-identified WCCO CBS TV photographer with a rubber bullet before arresting him last night as well Not surprisingly, they released the photographer after a couple of hours, probably hoping to avoid a lawsuit. From WCCO: WCCO’s award-winning veteran photographer Tom Aviles has been struck by a rubber bullet and taken into custody by the State Patrol Saturday night. During the arrest, they forced him onto the ground. Aviles is OK. We’ve called our CBS attorneys, and they’re working on freeing him. The arrest happened at Nicollet and Franklin at about 8:45 p.m. He was with veteran producer Joan Gilbertson, who is OK. They both identified themselves clearly, that they were members of the local media, and WCCO journalists. Joan told us the patrolman said, "You've been warned, or the same thing will happen to you. Or you’re next." Joan says she had her hands up and said, "Don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me." Again, winning hearts and minds. Still, some people wonder why so many Americans have pulled out their wallets and bought firearms and ammunition in recent weeks. It seems a pretty safe bet that business will be extremely brisk at gun shops across America this coming week. As for Minneapolis' Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #3? They will surely have a tougher time soliciting donations from local residents and local businesses after the past few days. It seems like martial law has almost been imposed on the city. Could there be some reason police don't want news reporters recording things outside? Have police forces gotten a little out of control, when they are shooting residents just because they were standing outside on their porches in front of their homes, watching the police forces move through their streets? These guns that shoot "pepperballs" are a basically paint ball gun but with the balls containing red hot pepper, designed to splash and spray upon impact in the victim's eyes and cause them suffering and disable them. It also can cause pain if it even gets on the skin. It's interesting to see how quickly "freedom" can be taken away.
I agree with the statement 'play stupid games, earn stupid prizes' as it applies to looters getting shot. But I think 'follow stupid orders, earn stupid rewards' applies to LE in some situations as well. Its almost like some cops, namely ones in big Dem city urban areas, are being told/trained to act as domineering and brutish as possible to turn the public against them and generate division and chaos. But thats prolly just my tinfoil hat talking...
A while back (years and years ago) I was perusing 'automatic paintball guns.' I found a company that made air-driven paintball 'gatling' aka 'mini-guns'. They were prohibitively expensive. At the time, only two had actually been sold- to the LAPD to mount on helicopters for crowd control with pepperballs. It may be worth noting that many countries with strict firearm laws classify and restrict paintball guns as lethal weapons. They have been known, on rare occassion, to kill people who are hit in the eye, throat or temple. As to the OP- If I shot someone with a paintball gun who was not committing a crime (which standing on your porch videoing has never once been a crime), I would be charged with felony.
