Minneapolis 'umbrella man' is white supremacist who smashed windows to 'incite violence,' police say

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter)

published 28 July 2020

Minneapolis police say they've identified the man who helped spark weeks of violence after the death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports — and protesting racism and police brutality was not his intent.

In May, a video spread widely of a man dressed in black and carrying an umbrella while smashing windows at a Minneapolis AutoZone not far from where Floyd was killed. The AutoZone was later burned down as people took over the Minneapolis police's third precinct and the Target store across the street from it, and police say this man was a member of the Hell's Angels biker gang intent on sparking this sort of violence.

"This was the first fire that set off a string of fires and looting throughout the precinct and the rest of the city," arson investigator Erika Christensen said in an affadavit filed this week. "The protests had been relatively peaceful" until the so-called "Umbrella man" showed up and "created an atmosphere of hostility and tension," Christensen continued, saying she "believes that this individual's sole aim was to incite violence."

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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