A DRIVE-BY shooting has left two National Guard troops injured in Minneapolis just hours after Democrat Maxine Waters ordered BLM and other protest groups to ‘stay on the streets’ and be ‘more confrontational’.
Waters traveled to Minneapolis the weekend before closing arguments in the trial of Derek Chauvin, who is charged with murdering George Floyd. Standing amid a crowd of angry BLM supporters protesting against Chauvin and also the death of a 20-year-old shot and killed by Police officers last week, Waters launched into a tirade that many claim was an intentional act of incitement.
‘I am not happy that we have talked about police reform for so long,’ Waters said, demanding a guilty verdict in the Chauvin trial. ‘If we don’t [get it], we cannot go away. We’ve got to stay on the street.’
When asked by a reporter what should be done should such a verdict not be passed, Waters added that protesters needed ‘to get more confrontational’ and ignore the curfew in place following widespread riots and vandalism that has blighted the city in recent months.
Just hours later, as tensions continued to rise, a National Guard team providing neighbourhood security in Minneapolis was approached by an SUV, whose occupants began blasting live rounds in an attempt to kill them.
All officers are thankfully safe, with two being taken to hospital yet known to be suffering no life-threatening injuries.
Police and National Guard officers have been heavily targeted by the BLM movement, both in the US and UK, with officers recently seriously injured in Bristol, and National Guards frequently being filmed coming under attack in the states.
“I am relieved to know none of our Guardsmen were seriously injured,” Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke, adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard, said in a news release.
“This event highlights the volatility and tension in our communities right now. I ask for peace as we work through this difficult time.”
