A brief altercation erupted at a protest calling for justice for Thurman Blevins in Minneapolis on Tuesday, July 31.
Blevins was shot and killed while running away from Minneapolis police officers on June 23. Before being killed, he called out to the officers, begging, “Please don’t shoot me. Leave me alone,” The Washington Post reports.
Following the release of body cam footage of the slaying as well as news that the officers involved in the killing would not be charged with any crime, the city erupted in protest.
According to FOX 9, protesters shut down the city’s public transportation on July 31, marching en masse on Minneapolis’ light rail tracks. Protesters on city streets disrupted bus service.
A white woman walking in the midst of one group of protesters found herself in a brief fight.
On Twitter, FOX 9 reporter Karen Scullin wrote the trouble began when the white woman “came storming into [the] center of what was a circle of protesters.”
Scullin added the white woman “grabbed a ‘Justice 4 June’ poster and crumpled it.”
What led2 punch:woman was in blocked train came storming in2 center of what was a circle of protesters.She was screaming she wanted to go home. At some pt she grabbed a "Justice 4 June" poster & crumpled it- then an apparent protester threw a few punches. she was scared & shaking
— Karen Scullin FOX9 (@kscullinfox9) August 1, 2018
The protester wasn’t here for that and responded with a quick one-two punch, hitting the woman on her shoulder and arm.
Video captured at the scene shows other protesters stepping in to separate the two women as photographers rush in to capture the conflict.
The video then shows the white woman erupting in tears and running to find the nearest police officer, who wraps his arm around her, trying to console her. The white woman can be heard through her tears saying, “I want to go home.”
The protester who threw the punches has not yet been identified, either.
The police department says neither party filed any complaints against the other and that other than the two punches, the protest was completely peaceful, with zero arrests made. The protests are expected to continue.
The officers who killed Blevins claimed he had a gun on him; CBS News reports two members of Blevins’ family have said he was in fact armed when confronted by the officers.
However, the victim’s family calls the officers’ official account of events “untrue” and are calling for a third-party investigation of the moments leading up to Blevins’ death.
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