The protests, they tell us, are “mostly” peaceful. The building they burn are just expressions of their oppressed rage, they said. They are just building, they wanted us to believe, no one is hurt by damaged buildings.
Except we now know that at least one of the buildings burned to the ground during riots in Minneapolis had people inside. An actual human life.
The Star Tribune reported Tuesday that authorities found a “charred body” of an unidentified man from within the wreckage of south Minneapolis pawnshop Max It Pawn on Monday, following the torching of the establishment back on May 28.
Acting on a tip, police department spokesman John Elder said investigators from the Minneapolis Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the state fire marshal’s division were able to find the remains among the rubble.
“The body appears to have suffered thermal injury, and we do have somebody charged with setting fire to that place,” Elder said.
As highlighted by the Star Tribune, the cause of the death of the unidentified man is not entirely clear, though “a police news release suggested that the man died in the blaze that destroyed the building on May 28.”
Minneapolis city homicide detectives have taken over the investigation, the spokesman said, adding that the victim’s identity and manner of death will be disclosed following the completion of an autopsy.
Montez Terrill Lee, a 25-year-old man from Rochester, MN, has been federally charged with arson in connection to the burned down pawn shop.
“According to the criminal complaint against Lee, ATF investigators received video from an anonymous source of an arson that occurred at the pawnshop,” the report noted. “In the first clip, a masked man, later identified as Lee, is seen pouring liquid from a metal container throughout the pawnshop. A second video shows Lee standing in front of the burning pawnshop saying ‘[Expletive] this place. We’re gonna burn this [expletive] down.’”
The Star Tribune reported in June that another man was killed in Minneapolis during the unrest following Floyd’s death, Calvin “Chuck” Horton Jr., a 43-year-old black male.
“A black man lay on the sidewalk in front of the Cadillac Pawnshop with a gunshot wound to the torso. He was not breathing. A crowd of noisy protesters gathered around, some of them shooting videos with their phones and speculating about what had taken place. While one officer knelt beside the man and performed CPR, the second officer waved off protesters. Soon, more officers arrived as the crowd swelled,” the report outlined. “Medical personnel grabbed Calvin ‘Chuck’ Horton Jr., 43, by the arms and legs and loaded him into an ambulance that rushed him to HCMC, where he was declared dead at 9:37 p.m.”
At least 17 other Americans were taken during the nationwide riots, Disrn logged in early June.
“The widespread riots that have ensued after the killing of George Floyd have not only caused irreparable damage to property, but they’ve taken the lives of at least 17 Americans,” Disrn said. “Some of the victims were either former or current law enforcement or innocent bystanders trying to get home or protect their business.”
The victims range from age 22 to 77. For example, Italia Kelly, 22, was tragically shot while getting into a vehicle at a protest in Davenport, Iowa. Her family said she was protesting peacefully before a violent protester killed her by indiscriminately shooting into a crowd.
Another victim, David Dorn, 77, “[d]ied protecting Lee’s Pawn Jewelry from looters. He was a retired St. Louis Police officer who served the force for 38 years,” Disrn noted. “He was shot in the torso by suspected rioters and died in the middle of the street.”
