Protests erupted in Minneapolis Thursday after members of a U.S. Marshals task force fatally shot a man during an arrest for possession of a firearm by a felon.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the identity of the person shot to death by law enforcement Thursday in the Uptown neighborhood in Minneapolis, according to the Daily Mail. However, friends and family of the deceased man identified him as 32-year-old Winston Boogie Smith.
The man killed by law enforcement Thursday in Uptown was Winston Boogie Smith.
An arrest warrant was issued after he skipped a probation violation hearing, which would have sent him to prison.
He recently put out a song to his kids called ‘Goodbye,’ likely due to prison term. pic.twitter.com/UrzfbU1Oda
— Guy Still (@mplstvguy) June 4, 2021
“During the incident, the subject, who was in a parked car, failed to comply and produced a handgun resulting in task force members firing upon the subject,” the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement, according to The New York Post.
Attempts at resuscitating Smith at the scene failed, The New York Post reported.
Smith had received a stayed prison sentence and was put on probation after getting convicted of aggravated robbery in 2017. The Thursday arrest warrant stemmed from Smith’s failure to show up to a probation violation hearing on May 19 — which would have resulted in his imprisonment, WCCO reported.
The BLM protest in Minneapolis devolved into looting overnight. A large group smashed their way into the @TMobile store. Exceptional video by @RebsBrannon: pic.twitter.com/BCNCcrYCmO
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 4, 2021
The shooting exacerbated protests that had ensued earlier after the dismantling of concrete barriers around the so-called ‘autonomous zone’ of George Floyd Square commemorating the murder of George Floyd.
Protesters gathered in Uptown on Thursday and started shouting anti-police slogans. They then moved to a Lake Street and Girard Avenue where a dumpster was set ablaze, and barricades were built, The Daily Mail reported.
The moment Police aggressively moved in on protesters and dispersed tear gas into the intersection. #Minneapolis #Uptown #WinstonBoogieSmith pic.twitter.com/A2zfDxRnbh
— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) June 4, 2021
The demonstrations soon devolved into looting and infighting, with a T-Mobile store and a CVS pharmacy getting raided, while other buildings were vandalized, the report says.
All of the officers involved in the fatal arrest were put on administrative leave, The New York Times reported.