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Owner Of Gutted Minneapolis Shopping Mall Tells Governor And Mayor: ‘People Will Uprise Over This’

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David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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A man identifying himself as the owner of a destroyed Minneapolis shopping center warned the governor and the city’s mayor Friday that citizens will “uprise” if politicians continue to do nothing but watch the riots and looting.

Twitter user Jack Schneider captured a late-night interview with the business owner. “I almost cannot believe what I just heard,” he tweeted.

“What I want to tell people right now is that if the governor and the mayor are not going to take care of this problem — people will. People will uprise over this,” he told a reporter from Minneapolis NBC News affiliate KARE that the businesses being destroyed weren’t necessarily white-owned. (RELATED: Trump Says He Did Not Call For Shooting Looters, Just That ‘Looting Leads To Shooting’)

“Those people living, [who] make their business there: they’re Korean, they’re black people, they’re immigrants. They’ve worked their fuc*ing lives off trying to make this thing happen.” He said the looters have “taken their lives away from them.”

A protester gestures in front of a fire during a demonstration against the death in Minneapolis police custody of African-American man George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., early May 30, 2020.

A protester gestures in front of a fire during a demonstration against the death in Minneapolis police custody of African-American man George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., early May 30, 2020.

Protests over the death of George Floyd after his arrest by Minneapolis police began earlier in the week.

Derek Chauvin, the former officer seen in a viral video holding Floyd on the ground with a knee on his neck, was arrested and charged with third degree murder and manslaughter Friday.

Rioting and looting occurred in several American cities Friday night and has persisted for four nights now in Minneapolis, where rioters have set fire to cars and businesses. The police force in the city even evacuated the city’s 3rd Precinct headquarters Thursday before it was set ablaze. (RELATED: ‘This Is Mostly A Protest’: MSNBC’s Ali Velshi Says Riots Aren’t Unruly As Building Burns Behind Him)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has received support from the National Guard to try to contain the violence.