According to earlier reports, the District Attorney had until noon today to charge the men who shot at protesters at the 4th Precinct Occupation in Minneapolis, MN on November 23rd.
On Wednesday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said a deadline extension for charges will expire at noon Monday.
Seems like the DA came pretty close to the wire. At the moment, it looks like only one person, Allen Scarscella, was charged, and not with anything like attempted murder. (Updates below. All four now have charges revealed).
Some reports are saying that all four men are to be charged, but it’s not definitive as far as I can tell. There will be a press conference at 1:00 PM which will presumably clarify things.
Prosecutors say they'll announce charges against four men who were arrested after shots were fired at demonstrators protesting the killing of a black man by police in Minneapolis...
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman is planning a 1 p.m. Monday news conference to "announce charges against four defendants." Additional details weren't immediately available.
A confirmation that the three other men are to be / have been charged.
12:30 p.m.
Prosecutors are filing charges against four men who were arrested last week after shots were fired at demonstrators protesting the killing of a black man by police.
Twenty-three-year-old Allen Lawrence Scarsella, of Lakeville, is charged with one count of riot while armed with a dangerous weapon and five counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.
The criminal complaint says Scarsella fired the shots that left five protesters injured on Nov. 23.
Prosecutors plan to announce charges against three other men on Monday afternoon.
Report on the charging of the other three men. From the local CBS Station:
Second degree rioting...
According to criminal complaints obtained by WCCO-TV prior to the afternoon press conference, 23-year-old Allen Lawrence Scarsella is charged with five counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of rioting. Each assault count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The three other men — 26-year-old Daniel Macey, 27-year-old Joseph Backman and 21-year-old Nathan Wayne Gustavsson — are charged with second-degree rioting with a dangerous weapon. The maximum punishment for this charge is 5 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
More on the incident and what preceded it:
Eight shots were fired that night, and five men suffered non-life threatening injuries.
According to the criminal complaint, investigators learned that at least one of the suspects had gotten into an argument with the Black Lives Matter protesters on another occasion. Scarsella and an acquaintance were seen on surveillance video wearing camouflage and face masks at the precinct Nov. 19.
In an interview with police, the acquaintance said they went to the 4th Precinct that day to film protesters.
Investigators say they saw a video made by Scarsella and the acquaintance that day where they used derogatory terms and said they were going to do some “reverse cultural enriching” and “make the fire rise.” They ended the video with saying, “stay white,” according to the criminal complaint.
And in a related, breaking development: