Two officers were injured Wednesday night when someone threw fireworks at them during a confrontation between police and citizens outside a north Minneapolis police station, authorities said Thursday.
A 29-year-old Minneapolis man was arrested on suspicion of fourth-degree assault of a police officer and booked into the Hennepin County jail, according to a police incident report. Another man, 37, of Brooklyn Park, was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct. The Star Tribune isn't naming the two suspects because they haven't yet been charged.
Police said the two men were part of a "hostile" crowd that threw a "mortar," or fireworks, at officers during a confrontation at 10:36 p.m. outside of the Fourth Precinct police station.
The report listed two officers as victims, both of whom suffered minor injuries; one of the officers later sought medical attention.
Police said the officers were responding to a suspicious-person report at the precinct house at 1925 Plymouth Av. N. when they "dealt with a hostile crowd who eventually threw a mortar at officers."
It wasn't immediately clear whether anyone in the crowd was injured.
Officials said there have been at least two incidents involving fireworks being thrown at police cars this week, though no other officers have been injured.
The incident comes at a tense moment between law enforcement and communities following a Ramsey County jury's acquittal of St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile.
On Tuesday, a video surfaced on Facebook that appeared to show a heated encounter on Minneapolis' North Side between two men and a pair of officers.
In the video, which as of Thursday afternoon had been viewed more than 85,000 times, one of the men is heard telling the officers that they "are not wanted around here."
"If you don't have any business in this area, I'd appreciate it if you move around, man," the man is heard saying.
One of the officers is heard saying off-camera: "That is really none of your business," before telling the man recording the encounter to get out of the street.
"All I am is a person in my neighborhood," the man is heard responding.
The video shows the man walking up to the officers' car, which prompts one of the officers to pull out his gun and hold it up to the driver's side door as his partner gets out and tells the men to leave.
Libor Jany • 612-673-4064
Twitter:@StribJany
