In Minneapolis, armed patrol group tries to keep the peace
As protests intensified in the Minneapolis suburb where a police officer fatally shot Daunte Wright, several Black men joined the crowd intent on keeping the peace and protecting against protests from escalating into violence.
Hundreds of folks have gathered outside the heavily guarded Brooklyn Center police station every evening since Sunday, when former Officer Kim Potter, who's white, shot the 20-year-old Black motorist during a traffic stop. Despite the mayor's calls for law enforcement and protesters to cut back their tactics, the nights have often ended in objects hurled, tear gas and arrests.
The Black men at the edge of the crowd wear yellow patches on protective vests that identify them as members of the Minnesota Freedom Fighters, an organization formed to supply security in Minneapolis' north side neighborhoods during unrest following the death of George Floyd last year. They are not shy about casting a forceful image - the group's Facebook page features members posing with assault-style weapons and describes itself as an "elite security unit" - but on Friday the Freedom Fighters didn't seem to be armed and said they intended and then encourage peaceful protesting. As several persons started out to rattle a fence protecting the Brooklyn Center police department, the Freedom Fighters communicated to the other person over walkie-talkies. They declined to say how many are in their group.
On recent nights, the Freedom Fighters have moved through the crowd in formation, wearing body armor and dark clothing, weaving past umbrella-wielding demonstrators to create separation along a double-layer perimeter security fence. Their passive tactics are designed to deescalate the tension, avoiding agitators from pressing forward and provoking the law enforcement officers standing at attention with pepper-ball and less-lethal sponge grenade launchers at the ready.
