MINNEAPOLIS _ After violent protesters looted and burned parts of the Twin Cities on Friday, state and local officials blamed much of the damage on out-of-state agitators. But on Sunday, information on arrests showed a different picture.
After the 8 p.m. curfew to control violent unrest Saturday, more Minnesotans were arrested in protest areas of Minneapolis than people from out of state.
In Hennepin County, 47 Minnesotans were arrested compared to 10 who listed addresses from out of state, according to data for jail bookings likely associated with the protests. Of the Minnesotans arrested, 21 were from Minneapolis and St. Paul while 36 came from outside the two cities.
The arrests after curfew included five Minnesotans who were booked on weapons charges along with two others _ one from Nebraska and another from Illinois.
The Hennepin County jail bookings also showed that 13 Minnesotans and two people from out of state were arrested before Saturday's curfew when a massive law enforcement force, which was beefed up by thousands of National Guard soldiers, swept across the city to push curfew violators off the street and stymie violence.
It appears more Minnesotans also were arrested on Friday _ a night of mayhem when businesses, cars and dumpsters were set on fire. Of those booked in Hennepin County after the 8 p.m. curfew, 17 were Minnesotans and two appeared to have come from outside the state. Earlier in the day, 12 Minnesotans were arrested compared to five with out-of-state addresses.
Arrest information was not yet available from Ramsey County.
At news conference Sunday, Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said authorities arrested at least 100 people overnight, far more than the previous two nights of arson and looting. "We used the curfew effectively," he said.
He noted that about 20% of those detained appeared to come from out of state. On Saturday, state officials estimated that 80% of those arrested on Friday came from out of state. But they appeared to walk back from that assessment on Sunday.
Watching violent protesters loot and burn homegrown businesses that provide groceries, medicine and other services to their neighborhoods was disheartening and seemed almost inconceivable to Minnesotans. Walz said Sunday that he "certainly wanted to believe" it was the outsiders instigating the violence.
He emphasized the highly organized nature of the groups involved in the vandalism, theft and destruction, including what he called a cyber "denial of service" attack on state computer systems. "That's not somebody sitting in their basement," he said.
"There are outside folks in there," he added, whether or not they're from Minnesota. "We'll get more data on that," he said.
Staff writer Patrick Condon contributed to this report.
