Eden Prairie police deploy to Brooklyn Center protests

The area around the Brooklyn Center Police Department was the epicenter of evening protests on Monday, April 12, over the killing of Daunte Wright and the Eden Prairie police department was there.

According to the Twitter account (@UR_Ninja) of news organization, Unicorn Riot, an Eden Prairie police SUV “just rolled up to join the police line suddenly” around 9:47 pm Monday evening.

According to the city of Eden Prairie communications manager, Joyce Lorenz, “The EPPD responded to a call for assistance last night, along with many other state, county and municipal public safety agencies.”

As of 10:15 am, Tuesday, April 13, the Unicorn Riot news tweet about Eden Prairie police joining the police presence in Brooklyn Center had 35 retweets, 16 quote Tweets, and 106 likes.

The Twitter response to the appearance of Eden Prairie police at the evening protests included the following comments:

@stevenstruhar30 “brown folks in eden prairie going unmolested tonight then eh?” “mmmm there’s a healthy somali population there.” “prolly wondering where their tormenters are tonight.”

@sayansi2020 “There are only 10 Black people In eden prairie” Eden Prairie??? They do not let any Black People Eat At mcdonalds There”

@JoevsMoe “Eden Prairie??? Tf”

@katiefab “EP couldn’t pass up an opportunity to harass and assault some people of color, I see!”

@vogelsanlover “Long way from home…”

@The_Holocron “Bored in the SW…”

@DocRhombus “f*** that”

@grahamwhich “If this isn’t the most KKK type thing I’ve ever seen”

According to the Minnesota Operation Safety Net (OSN) official Twitter account (@MinnesotaOSN), the Tuesday evening protests “Crowds are launching bottles, fireworks, bricks and other projectiles at public safety officials at the Brooklyn Center Police Department. They are also trying to shine lasers into officers’ and troopers’ eyes.” The Minnesota OSN is a joint effort of local entities to ensure the safety of the public during the trial of Derek Chauvin.

According to several news reports, 40 people were arrested during Monday evenings protests. Authorities described looting overnight as limited and sporadic in nature. The Unicorn Riot reporting videos showed officers with batons and described police “striking and arresting” people including at least one journalist. Currently, it is not known if Eden Prairie police officers were involved in making arrests or police lines at the protest.

Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. In a follow up with EPPD on April 13 Police Chief Weber noted that 11 EP officers were deployed to Brooklyn Center, but made no arrests.