While hundreds of protesters in Minnesota came together to demonstrate peacefully in the days after the killing of George Floyd, one mysterious instigator was seen smashing the windows of an AutoZone store. The man also spray-painted the store while he was dressed in all black, wearing a black gas mask and carrying an umbrella.
Many people wondered about the identity of the instigator after the video went viral, and he became known as "Umbrella Man."
Minneapolis police have now revealed new information about the suspect. The man's name has yet to be revealed because charges against him haven't been filed, according to CBS Minnesota. But he is believed to be affiliated with the white supremacist motorcycle club Hell’s Angels and a gang known as the Aryan Cowboys. The Anti-Defamation League describes the Aryan Cowboys as a white supremacist prison and street gang.
The man is believed to have been responsible for writing "Free s**t for everyone zone" on the doors of the store. According to a search warrant affidavit obtained by CNN, the suspect initiated the chaos on May 27, which resulted in looting and arson at the AutoZone store.
"This was the first fire that set off a string of fires and looting throughout the precinct and the rest of the city," Sgt. Erika Christensen, a Minneapolis police arson investigator, wrote in the affidavit, CNN reported.
Police said the protests were peaceful before the man arrived.
"Until the actions of the person your affiant has been calling 'Umbrella Man,' the protests had been relatively peaceful," the affidavit stated. "The actions of this person created an atmosphere of hostility and tension. Your affiant believes that this individual's sole aim was to incite violence."
While trying to identify the instigator in the weeks after the incident, some social media users described him as a St. Paul police officer, according to CBS. But police revealed the latest information after getting an email from a person who revealed the affiliation and motivation of the suspect. The tipper said the instigator is a 32-year-old man who "wanted to sow discord and racial unrest by breaking out the windows and writing what he did on the double red doors."
Police said the man could be connected to another incident in which a Muslim woman in Stillwater, Minnesota, said she was accosted by members of a motorcycle club wearing Aryan Cowboy vests.
Following the incident on May 27, Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said outsiders and white supremacists may have come to disrupt the protests.
What started as largely peaceful protests for George Floyd have turned to outright looting and domestic terrorism in our region. We need you to stay home tonight.
— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) May 30, 2020
CBS photojournalist Dymanh Chhoun said he was threatened by the "Umbrella Man" while recording the protest.
“I will f**k up your camera if you don’t keep walking,” the man said, according to the journalist.
Other peaceful protests in recent months have been disrupted by rioters. According to The Washington Post, 20-year-old Brian Jordan Bartels was arrested for inciting chaos in Pittsburgh. In Austin, Texas, white protesters vandalized the streets and threw water bottles at police.
Peaceful protesters have also been protecting properties from rioters, as Blavity previously reported.
"Don’t spray stuff on here when they’re going to blame Black people for this,” a Black woman told a white woman spray-painting "BLM" on a Los Angeles Starbucks.
