This media guide is to provide context to each of the 73 videos worn by 45 Minneapolis Police officers during the largest mass arrest in Minnesota history of more than 646 protesters during a post-election protest against Donald Trump on Nov. 4, 2020. Full story here.
Adding to the trove of coverage from that historic night is this exclusive video dump and media guide by Unicorn Riot. For Unicorn Riot’s full live stream from the ground, State Patrol surveillance helicopter footage, report-backs from some of the arrested protesters and more, see our article.
Recorded just a few months after police killed George Floyd and then brutally reacted to protests, the videos worn by 45 MPD officers showcase three dozen hours of officer interactions and tactic discussions while illustrating MPD’s antagonistic relationship with the community. Strikingly, more than 24% of the 45 officers have killed community members while on duty, and a large swath of other officers had numerous accounts of egregious actions against the community.
Officers are recorded being paranoid about the protesters, especially civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, amped up for violence, and sharing tactics for a shootout against the crowd. They’re also recorded joking with each other about eating gummies and mushrooms, talking about finding “the Unicorn Riot guy,” complaining about their jobs, dissing the protesters, chatting about their wives Halloween costumes and griping about being hungry.
Access all of the videos in the vault || Full article and previous coverage here
Each police video is linked and highlighted in yellow. To view the video, click on the yellow link. Listed after the video titles are links to each officer’s complaints, according to Communities United Against Police Brutality, and then a description. Some officers have long descriptions, others just a sentence. The list is in alphabetical order by the first name of the officer.
[646_Abubakar_Muridi_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2005-2.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Abubakar Muridi, bike team (27m 39s), Muridi’s complaints, description: Officer Abubakar Muridi is one of the bike officers lined up along the median. The strike team is in sight.
[646_Abubakar_Muridi_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2153.mp4], 9:53 p.m. – Abubakar Muridi, bike team (8m 45s), Muridi’s complaints, description: Officer Muridi is at the freeway median with other bike officers. Nothing significant happens.
[646_Abubakar_Muridi_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2237.mp4], 10:37 p.m. – Abubakar Muridi, bike team (8m 12s), Muridi’s complaints, description: Officer Muridi is in the line of bike officers surrounding the protesters.
10:41 p.m. [3:57] Somebody in the crowd: “cooperation these nuts!”
[646_Adam_Lewis_Protest_No_Problems.mp4], 8:06 p.m. – Adam Lewis, bike team (35m 45s), Lewis’ complaints, description: Officer Adam Lewis walks toward the line of police behind the median.
8:07 p.m. [1:00] Lewis: “Do they have a huge mission back there?” Sergeant: “Our bike guys?” Lewis: “If we have more than you need, we should bring them here” Sergeant: “You know how they are saying ‘we will not be arrested,’ that indicates they’re going to resist. … They’re out there chanting ‘we will not be arrested.’ What that means, we will see.”
8:08 p.m. [2:25] Lewis, over the phone: “Hey, can you send your team or Allie’s team down here, we are a little short and they’re saying they won’t be arrested, so we need another squad down here… oh … OK, do that, you’re fine.” Lewis, to another officer: “They’re having problems down there… with cars… so they’re doing something.” Other officer: “OK, no problem.”
8:31 p.m. [25:30] Lewis: “[inaudible] If we need it… We’re not going to have time to put it on.” Other officer: “It’s kind of a hard issue for us, you know.” Lewis: “That’s for if the full on riots start, then it’s going to be hours of… you know… then you’re right.
8:32 p.m. [25:50] Another officer heard communicating over Lewis’s radio: “99-0-1, we have a hostile group interacting with us.” Another officer over the radio: “…Can you take care of that problem?” Original officer over the radio: “I’m not sure what the scope would be. They’re residents, I believe…they’re out of apartments here, it’s a large complex.” Another officer: “They’re lighting them up.” [Officers shone a large spotlight onto the apartment building.] Original officer, again: “Yeah most of them are going back into the apartments; just keep a light on them.”
8:36 p.m. [30:38] Lewis: “Should we get Steve over here?” Other officer: “Yeah, it’s better to be safe than sorry. I mean, we probably won’t need them, but they could be close support if something happens.”
8:40 p.m. [34:00] Lewis, talking with an officer in riot gear: “I had two bike teams shut down traffic on Cedar. They helped the troopers clear all those cars out. Troopers have now got it secure, I got two more teams coming. I’ll just line them up behind you guys. Do you guys need close support there or anything?” Officer: “We don’t need close… you guys don’t have gear, so if they’re throwing shit… we’ll get you there to not be front line… support line… and if they break through we’ll have you right there.”
8:41 p.m. [35:40] Lewis: “Shutting down. It’s going to be a several hour detail…”
[646_Adam_Moen_Protest-5.mp4], 8:04 p.m. – Adam Moen, bike team (37m 42s), Moen’s complaints, description: Officer Moen is on the bike team, adjacent to [646_Lamandre_Wright_Protest-2.mp4].
8:05 p.m. [1:15] Sergeant: “If they [inaudible]… push them back, at this point they are all under arrest.”
8:07 p.m. [3:06] Officers congratulate each other.
8:07 p.m. [3:17] One cop whispers to the other, “If he only knew.”
8:34 p.m. [30:10] Officer to the left of Moen points his gun at protesters for a brief moment.
8:41 p.m. [37:30] Sergeant: “You’re all recording?” Officer: “Yes.” Sergeant: “This is going to be a several-hour ordeal and I’m not sure if they run that long.” The sergeant has the officers shut their cameras off.
[646_Alexandra_Dubay_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2020.mp4], 8:20 p.m. – Alexandra Dubay, strike team (34m 22s), Dubay’s complaints, description: Officer Alexandra Dubay arrives with other members of the strike team and begins to camp out on the I-94 exit.
8:22 p.m. [2:03] Officers talking about protesters.
8:29 p.m. [9:11] Officers point out Nekima Levy Armstrong, a well-known civil rights activist and previous Minneapolis mayoral candidate.
8:36 p.m. [16:20] The officers complain that they were not able to make arrests at a different protest.
[646_Alexandra_Dubay_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2118.mp4], 9:18 P.M. – Alexandra Dubay, strike team (9m 21s), Dubay’s complaints, description: More footage from officer Alexandra Dubay. The strike team is called to the other side of the freeway for crowd control.
9:25 p.m. [7:10] Officers claim protesters are racist for going after “the one Black cop.”
9:26 p.m. [8:34] Dubay talks about being overworked with serving warrants.
[646_Andrew_Ruden_Mass_Arrest.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Andrew Ruden, bike team (37m 33s), Ruden’s complaints, description: Officer Andrew Rucker is standing in the line of bicycle officers behind the median. His light of sight is directly impeded by the median and the support pillar for the pedestrian bridge overhead.
8:05 p.m. [0:30] Rucker: “I got the worst view.” He chuckles. He places his body camera on top of the median, giving a stable view of the protesters.
8:33 p.m. [28:00] Police can be seen walking into the crowd. Shortly after, they begin walking off with the first protesters.
The footage ends with Ruden turning off his body camera to “conserve battery.”
[646_Andrew_Schroeder_Event-5.mp4], 8:20 p.m. – Andrew Schroeder, strike team (33m 33s), Schroeder’s complaints, description: Officer Andrew Schroeder is positioned with the other strike team officers and Sgt. Mosey with pepper spray and 40mm marker round guns ready. Schroeder walks toward the line of police officers on the highway surrounding the protesters. He’s adjacent to [646_Kyle_Pond_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2020-2.mp4].
8:21 p.m. [1:30] Another officer talking over the radio: “It does not appear that there’s anything that could necessarily harm us at this point.”
8:25 p.m. [5:23] Schroeder: “We’re gonna arrest 500 people.” Other officer: “It’s gonna be sick.” Schroeder: “glad I’m not working the jail tonight. I was in the jail earlier and they’re like, ‘we’re so short tonight’ and…” Other officer: “What do we got for numbers?” Schroeder: “They said 500 and we’re gonna book every one of them.”
8:35 p.m. [15:20] Another officer talking over the radio: “[Laser] pointed directly in officer’s face.”
8:37 p.m. [17:21] Schroeder: “Grab them one at a time, in case they struggle and stuff … we can trade off where you grab and I put on the cuffs.” Officer: “Who should we take first?” Schroeder: “I’ll give you three guesses.”
8:38 p.m. [17:58] Schroeder: “Why don’t we snatch her right now?”
8:39 p.m. [18:50] Schroeder: “Who is the S.W.A.T. team in full camos? Is that a UMN team or a state patrol team?” Mosey: “I think it’s a state patrol team… I can’t remember what their acronym is.”
8:39 p.m. [19:28] Mosey: “If they resist, squirt ’em!”
8:45 p.m. [25:08] Schroeder: “This is bad, this is 500 people. What do we do if it’s 3000?” Mosey: “We don’t. That’s when we bring out the big stuff.”
8:47 p.m. [26:48] Schroeder, in reference to Mosey saying they were making arrests in a different area: “Did he say they were arresting on the other side?” Other officer: “That’s what he said.” Schroeder: “Maybe he just lied to us because we’re getting antsy.”
[646_Andrew_Schroeder_Event_Sgt_Mosey.mp4], 9:10 p.m. – Andrew Schroeder, strike team (0m 34s), Schroeder’s complaints, description: Officer Andrew Schroeder is with the other members of the strike team on the highway exit.
[646_Andrew_Schroeder_Event-3.mp4], 9:18 p.m. – Andrew Schroeder, strike team (32m 52s), Schroeder’s complaints, description: Officer Schroeder is standing behind the bike team.
9:25 p.m. [7:31] Schroeder: “They’ve already been told that … the teams are not going anywhere, they’re adding bodies to it … we’re getting a couple more bodies actually.”
9:27 p.m. [9:04] Schroeder: “We’ll be out of here by midnight … [inaudible] … that’s because they’re filling up one bus at a time. One bus is what, 50 people? Maybe?”
9:29 p.m. [10:58] Schroeder: “Nekima came over in our face for a long time.”
9:30 p.m. [11:55] Schroeder: “Who is [inaudible] in full camo?” Another officer: “State patrol, I believe.”
9:32 p.m. [14:25] Schroeder: “What’s our ETA here on arrests? Do you know? It’s taking forever to arrest somebody.” Another officer: “They just brought another bus.” Schroeder: “If there’s enough time where they can start dancing and having a party, that means too much time has gone.”
9:36 p.m. [15:48] Schroeder, to Mosey: “They’re looking for you. They want to know where to put the bus?” Mosey: “They want it down here.”
9:36 p.m. [16:24] Another officer talking over the radio: “We got the guy with the laser pointer … in custody, that is all.”
9:39 p.m. [19:40] Other officer: “It’s cool they grabbed that dude.” Bauer: “What, with the laser thing?” Other officer: “Yeah, he had a gun in his car too.”
9:40 p.m. [20:27] Schroeder: “Our team tripled in size. There’s about three people who do literally nothing. No idea what they do. And there’s several of us who work really hard. But since the George Floyd riots, there’s no enforcement at all … there’s no more, ‘there’s a guy in a car with a gun.’ Today … I asked if we could break off because we were doing nothing, and our team went up to stop him and it was cool. We can’t do anything ourselves. We have to call for other people … I was called for, ‘everyone stop what you are doing and look for bricks … piles of bricks being dropped off…'” Officer Schroeder is likely referencing a debunked conspiracy theory that government actors and billionaires placed pallets of bricks along protest routes for protesters to use against property and police officers.
9:48 p.m. [28:25] Mosey speaking off camera about how the protesters will react when they see the bus: “It’ll be alright. They’ll just get agitated when they see us cross. Then if the bus goes by we’ll go over … But if somebody does something stupid, we’ll be ready. … I don’t like the plan either but … if they start turning stuff around … mark them!” Other officer: “Are you giving the order?” Sgt. Mosey: “Yeah.”
Shroeder shuts off his camera without acknowledgement.
[646_Benjamin_Bauer_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2123.mp4], 9:23 p.m. – Benjamin Bauer, strike team (20m 16s), Bauer’s complaints, description: Officer Benjamin Bauer walks behind the bike team. Officer Bauer is largely quiet but spits frequently throughout the video.
9:24 p.m. [10:00] Bauer: “Little car chase huh?” Other officer: “That’s what it sounds like.” Bauer: “Sounds like he ran.” Other officer: “It’s the same dude from earlier.”
9:24 p.m. [10:30] Bauer: “This is going to take forever.” Other officer: “I don’t even know when it started.” Bauer: “Yeah, they’ve been arresting people for a little while now”
9:28 p.m. [14:20] Bauer: “Sounds like there’s a shit ton of people there, man … it’s going to take forever to arrest everybody”
9:28 p.m. [14:32] Bauer: “It’s pretty cool that they grabbed that dude.” Other officer: “With the laser thing?” Bauer: “Yeah, with the gun in the car, too.” Other officer: “Oh, I didn’t hear that part.”
[646_Benjamin_Bauer_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2150.mp4], 9:50 p.m. – Benjamin Bauer, strike team (57m 13s), Bauer’s complaints, description: Officer Benjamin Bauer is standing behind the median, and the footage begins shortly before the bicycle officers cross the median. Throughout the footage, Bauer is mostly standing silently and watching the protesters.
9:52 p.m. [02:22] Bauer crosses the median himself and is visibly carrying a long gun.
9:21 p.m. [30:45] Bauer takes over the position of one of the bicycle officers.
9:25 p.m. [35:00] Two protesters begin heckling Bauer and the officers next to him.
[646_Carlos_Baires_Escobar_Mass_Arrest-2.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Carlos Baires Escobar, bike team (37m 26s), Carlos’s complaints, description: Officer Carlos Baires is stationed with the bike team along the median.
8:13 p.m. [8:00] Escobar: “Who’s pointing that laser? You see it? Somebody’s got a laser on this guy.”
8:20 p.m. [15:05] Another officer: “I used to live in this building right here.” Escobar: “Was it nice back then?”
8:34 p.m. [29:10] Escobar, after the protesters announce there are children in the crowd: “Are you kidding me? Why would you bring your child here?” Another officer: “For attention.”
8:41 p.m. [36:25] Escobar: “The last mass arrest they found, like, three or four guns…” Another officer: “I’m sure they got some here too … they probably stashed them in the bushes.”
[646_Carlos_Baires_Escobar_Mass_Arrest.mp4], 9:18 p.m. – Carlos Baires Escobar, bike team (5m 36s), Carlos’ complaints, description: Officer Carlos Baires Escobar is another bike officer located behind the median.
9:21 p.m. [3:00] Escobar asks protesters to stand back, despite being separated by a median. Protester: “We aren’t armed. You’re the ones that are armed. We’re just using our voice.” Escobar does not respond.
[646_Charles_Beise_94_Protest-3.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Charles Beise, bike team (27m 36s), Beise’s complaints, description: Officer Charles Beise is next to officer Carrero, [646_Ryan_Carrero_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2005.mp4], in the line of bike officers.
8:08 p.m. [3:30] Officers talking about the protester’s megaphone: “It’s pretty effective, but our speaker is louder than theirs.”
8:12 p.m. [7:00] Protestor: “We would already be off the highway if you let us get off the highway.” Beise: “No, I don’t believe that.”
8:16 p.m. [11:24] Beise: “I love all the reasons they spew out.”
[646_Charles_Beise_94_Protest-2.mp4], 9:52 p.m. – Charles Beise, bike team (9m 37s), Beise’s complaints, description: Officer Charles Beise is with the bike team as they cross the initial media to set up across from the protesters.
[646_Christopher_Pickhardt_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2008.mp4], 8:08 p.m. – Christopher Pickhardt, Sgt in charge of platoon one (148m 15s), Pickhardt’s complaints, description: Sergeant Christopher Pickhardt is with other officers in full riot gear stationed behind the median. Pickhardt is in charge of platoon one.
8:18 p.m. [9:50] Another sergeant approaches Pickhardt: “Can you round up flex cuffs from your guys for those troopers?” Pickhardt: “Do we have flexcuffs?” Sergeant: “Yeah, I think your guys have some on them, don’t they?” Pickhardt: “They each have them on them.” Sergeant: “Yeah, what do they have?” Pickhardt: “Do you need more?” Sergeant: “Yeah, the troopers need a shit load.” Pickhardt turns around to the unmarked police van and points at it: “Our van right there has–” He turns around, and the sergeant has already walked off.
8:19 p.m. [10:45] Multiple officers at Pickhardt’s direction go to the van to get all of the flexcuffs to give to the state troopers.
8:23 p.m. [14:45] Pickhardt to the officers who fetched the flexcuffs: “Expect this to take quite a while, because the whole booking process is going to take several hours.”
8:24 p.m. [16:22] Pickhardt to the officers around him: “Just so you guys know, [inaudible] guys are down here covering this flank. They don’t have protection here. So, if shit starts getting thrown, they may get pulled back.”
8:31 p.m. [23:05] An officer in riot gear approaches Pickhardt: “[State patrol is] trying to get 20 of our guys to go over there and give them support for line relief,” he points toward the line of officers behind the median. Pickhardt: “We’re trying to also get U of M mobile field force down here to do that … I don’t know how big their unit will be.” Officer: “Sounds like it might be about 20-ish.”
8:52 p.m. [44:02] Pickhardt approaches Sgt. Matthew Severance, who is on the phone and pacing. Severance: “Do you want to use mace? Do you want to disperse that crowd? It’s going to be tough … I don’t want to amp those guys up because then they’re going to amp up my 500 people. Could you guys just stand fast? Or are you going to address the flashlights one at a time?” There’s a pause as the other person on the phone talks. Severance: “OK. I mean, if you feel like it’s assaulting, or if you feel like they’re trying to get up on you and you’ve got to mace them, you’re going to have to mace them. Just keep in the back that if you piss those ten people off up there, I’ve got 600 fucking people that are going to get amped up.” After the phone call, he talks with Pickhardt: “Yeah, they’re using lights, and it sucks. Luckily, these fuckers don’t have any lights,” he gestures toward the crowd of protesters. “Up there, they’ve got a lot of them.”
9:23 p.m. [75:26] Pickhardt, now located on the same side of the highway as the protesters, to their east: “Notice they didn’t come up and challenge the line when we were holding it,“ he points toward the line of cops along the median.
9:28 p.m. [80:02] A sergeant approaches Pickhardt: “Pick, take your guys off the line, quietly jump the fence, go down around to the other end of this contingent, relieve the troopers down there. Alright? When those troopers come back here, they’re gonna kind of–” Another sergeant standing just out of frame interrupts him: “They’re going to start arresting.” First sergeant: “…yeah, and help out. But you guys are taking over for them. … Do it quietly, I don’t want any orders being barked or nothing like that. Just try to filter them off.”
9:37 p.m. [89:00] Now on the other side of the highway, Pickhardt prepares to give orders to his platoon to relieve the line of state troopers. “Right here,” he turns to the line of officers moving along the median. “Have your sticks.” The officer in front of the line pulls out his stick. “As soon as they start shifting down, you’re going to shift with them.” As Pickhardt says this, officers break the line formation to see him as he talks. “Just stay right there. Follow right behind them. Nope! Get back in line! Back in line! Stay in line! Stay in line! Straight back!” The line starts turning and moving horizontally along the highway to fill in behind the line of state troopers leaving. The officers are moving too close together. “Spread it up here! Come up here! Come up here! Yep, perfect! Great job!” He takes a step back from the line, then notices that the officers in line are continuing to move further down toward the other side of the highway. “Nope, stay right there! Not that far! Come back! Back! Back! Back! Back! Not that tight!”
9:41 p.m. [93:25] A sergeant approaches Pickhardt and begins talking to him: “I’d like to address a few of our guys. They’re, uh, upset. They thought there was going to be more to this. I’m like, ‘this is because we’re on the highway. It becomes a state trooper thing.” Pickhardt: “We’re just supporting the troopers.” Sergeant: “Yep. I go, ‘there’s going to be times where it’s nothing but us.’ So I go, ‘don’t worry, you’ll get your opportunity to deal with a lot more stuff.’ So… I mean, I get the frustration. But if they’re peaceful, we’re peaceful. It’s all dictated on what they do.” Pickhardt: “But if they start throwing shit, it changes.” Sergeant: “That’s different, yup. Right now, we just outnumber everybody, so everybody’s being peaceful because they know better.”
10:34 p.m. [146:07] Pickhardt is behind the line of police officers, and another officer is talking to him, but it’s inaudible. Pickhardt: “I, uh… I was not last night because I was an election judge, up in Ramsey. So, yeah… But our team was.” Other officer: [inaudible]. Pickhardt: “A little thing broke out in 5th precinct, where they arrested a fair amount, but nothing big.” [Referring to 14 arrests after an autonomous election-night march through Uptown Minneapolis.] Officer: “How about at the polling site?” Pickhardt: “No… Up there in Anoka, no. Everybody pretty much votes for Trump.” He laughs. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t offset all of the morons down here.”
Access all of the videos in the vault || Full article and previous coverage here
[646_Christopher_Tucker_I_94_Arrests.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Christopher Tucker, bike team (37m 50s), Tucker’s complaints, description: Sergeant Christopher Tucker is with the bicycle officers behind the median.
8:06 p.m. [0:44] A police sergeant walks behind the line of bicycle officers, shouting out orders: “At this point, they’re all under arrest.”
8:06 p.m. [1:24] Tucker pulls out his cellphone and tries to call another officer, who walks up to Tucker before he can make the call: “Oh, I was going to call you.” The officer looks down at his body camera and then makes a hand gesture at Tucker: “I’m rolling.” Tucker: “Yeah, so am I.” Tucker points toward the officers stationed on the west side of the segment of I-94: “They don’t have any really huge mission back there, right?” Officer: “Back there?” Tucker: “Our bike guys?” Officer: “Kind of … We need more people here?” Tucker: “If you have more than you need, we could do one more line for close support,” He gestures toward the line of bicycle officers, “Or we could just leave them there. They’re over there talking about, ‘we are not going to be arrested’, so that in the case they’re going to resist… So what that means, we’ll see.”
8:15 p.m. [9:42] Tucker approaches an officer in the line and puts his hand on his back: “Where’s your, uh, wingman?” The officer taps the shoulder of another officer right next to him: “Right here.” Tucker: “Let’s get you back here just in case they do stupid stuff…” Tucker walks to two officers off the line to a position behind it. One of the officers is holding a bright orange 40mm less-lethal round launcher. Tucker “…No shooting on your own, unless we’re literally under attack.” A police sergeant walks up to Tucker and the officer: “Hey, you guys can’t be using those 40s.” Tucker: “They’re not using them here, it’s just in case it gets stupid.”
8:30 p.m. [25:10] Tucker: “Who’s that coming now?” A dozen police cruisers arrive from the east and pass behind the line of bicycle officers along the median. Tucker: “Troopers.”
[646_Daniel_Lysholm_94_Protest_2.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Daniel Lysholm, bike team (37m 43s), Lysholm’s complaints, description: Officer Daniel Lysholm is one of the bicycle officers lined up along the median. The crowd of protesters is perfectly in his line of sight, but nothing significant happens while he is recording.
[646_Daniel_Lysholm_94_Protest_.mp4], 9:21 p.m. – Daniel Lysholm, bike team (2m 22s), Lysholm’s complaints, description: Officer Lysholm is standing at the median with the other bike officers. A woman from the crowd of protesters yells at an officer to the right of Lysholm.
[646_Dominic_Manelli_Detail_.mp4], 8:04 p.m. – Dominic Manelli, bike team (38m 15s), Manelli’s complaints, description: The footage begins with officer Dominic Manelli arriving with his bicycle and stationing himself along the median with other bike officers. Manelli’s view is from behind the median and the pedestrian bridge, behind the line of officers to the east of the protesters. You can see Officer Andrew Ruden [646_Andrew_Ruden_Mass_Arrest.mp4] with his body camera placed on the median.
8:05 p.m. [1:40] Another officer from behind Manelli: “Did you hear over the radio about the 40s?” Manelli: “No 40s.” Officer: “Got it.”
8:37 p.m. [33:10] Protester with the megaphone: “This looks like an escalation, not a de-escalation.” Manelli: “Oh, there’s the- there’s the buzz word.”
[646_Dominic_Manelli_Detail.mp4], 9:52 p.m. – Dominic Manelli, bike team (11m 17s), Manelli’s complaints, description: Officer Dominic Manelli is one of the bike officers lined up along the median. Manelli was on the S.W.A.T. team that killed Amir Locke and was one of the first officers to enter Locke’s apartment.
[646_Dustin_Schwarze_Event-2.mp4], 10:50 p.m. – Dustin Schwarze, strike team (9m 33s), Schwarze’s complaints, description: Officer Dustin Schwaze’s view is from the walking ramp toward the pedestrian bridge over the freeway. The crowd of protesters can be seen below dancing and singing. Schwarze was one of two officers initially charged with killing Jamar Clark in Nov. 2015.
[646_James_Carroll_94_Riverside_Mass_Arrest.mp4], 8:04 p.m. – James Carroll, Sgt. in charge of platoon three (131m 1s), Carroll’s complaints, description: Sergeant James Carroll is behind the line of officers in riot gear to the east of the protesters, near the exit. At the beginning of the footage, Carroll is mostly standing around. Radio chatter features heavily in this portion of the video. Carroll is in charge of platoon three.
8:05 p.m. [0:47] Over the radio: “12-81 to 12-82.” 12-82: “Go ahead.” 12-81: “Do you see my lights here, by the horses? Is this where you need us?” 12-82: “Yeah, perfect.” 12-81: “[inaudible] apartments [inaudible], a lot of them have skedaddled.”
8:05 p.m. [1:26] A different voice over the radio: “I think most of them are off now.” Another voice: “We own that sidewalk right now.”
8:06 p.m. [2:00] Over the radio: “And, uh, Strike 3. I believe it was our… partners of Metro Transit just showed up. They’re going to be covering the southside at, uh, I think it’s 22nd and Ninth Street.”
8:18 p.m. [13:55] Carroll is talking with Sgt. Matthew Severance and a state patrol sergeant. State patrol: “Good job.” Carroll: “Yeah. This came together good.” State patrol: “I have to say… [inaudible] show up.” Carroll: “We’re tightening things up.” Severance walks off. State patrol: “I don’t know if we’re allowed to tighten up with all of the shit that’s going on.” Carroll: “Yeah. We just lost control…” Severance interrupts: “Thought I asked those fuckers earlier to do that, I could’ve sworn.” Carroll: “Yeah…” State patrol: “Yeah, they did.” Severance to state patrol: “You look great, by the way.” State patrol: “You do, too!” Severance: “Can I get a high-five?” They high-five. State patrol: “How’s it going, man?” Severance: “[inaudible], she says you look nice, too.” State patrol: “I’m pretty sure I got her number for after this.” The MPD sergeant looks surprised, then responds: “She gave me the crotch-crickets earlier.” Carroll quickly turns away from the conversation, rendering it mostly inaudible. He then turns back and quickly changes the subject of the conversation toward the protesters.
8:20 p.m. [16:10] Carroll talks with officer Joshua Domek [646_Joshua_Domek_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2010.mp4], who tells him that one of the state troopers said there were long guns in the crowd of protesters (See Domek’s footage, 10:30). He walks to the other side of the line of officers to spread the word: “I guess they’re saying there is long guns in this group here. Do you want to tell our people?”
8:22 p.m. [18:18] Carroll, to another officer beside him: “I don’t know if you heard, it sounds like there’s some long guns in the group.” Officer: “Yeah, that’s what they’re saying.” Carroll: “We haven’t seen them yet. We haven’t found them. They’re probably in the vehicles by now.” Carroll proceeds to go from officer to officer to relay the news.
8:25 p.m. [21:00] Sgt. Severance is talking with a state trooper about two specific protesters that they are watching, but it is mostly inaudible. Trooper: “We do have a sniper sitting on the [inaudible],” as he points off behind them, further east from where the protesters have been contained.
8:46 p.m. [42:00] An officer cheekily shouts out to the young MPD sergeant: “I love your hair!” Officers all around chuckle, including Carroll. The MPD sergeant steps forward, grinning: “Some guy yells, ‘that’s not how I did your hair when I fucked you last night!’ I was like, ‘that was good!’” All of the officers laugh.
8:51 p.m. [47:41] Over the radio: “12-81 to transit at 22nd and ninth, there’s a white Tahoe and an Acura SUV that are going to [inaudible] going the wrong way. He’s one of the main agitators of the group.”
8:55 p.m. [51:42] Carroll to an officer out of view from the body cam footage: “Are you going to grab the one with the laser?” The officer is inaudible on the footage. Another officer: “Did you see the laser yet, or not?” Carroll: “I didn’t see the laser.” Officer: “They were shooting our helicopter earlier.”
8:56 p.m. [52:22] Carroll, talking to Sgt. Steven Mosey: “Sarge, do you know where that one with the laser is out there?” Mosey: “I’m sorry, what’s that?” Carroll: “Do you know where the one with the laser is out here?” Mosey: “Yeah, I’m told they’re right over here, that’s why I’m asking…” Carroll, cutting Mosey off: “Oh shit, yeah, we can just grab them.” Mosey walks off, but can be heard adding on to the end of the interaction: “That’s one of them, I mean, there’s a couple, I guess.” There’s a brief pause, then Carroll says to the officer next to him: “It’d be good practice for our group.”
9:00 p.m. [55:50] Carroll tells another officer that he volunteered his group to make the arrest of the woman with the laser pointer. “I guess they want her for a… I didn’t realize it was a gross misdemeanor, or whatever, the laser thing, but…”
9:00 p.m. [56:42] Over the radio: “12-82 to 12-81, are you pushing towards 22nd?” 12-81: “We’re dealing with a guy right now along the east side of 94 that has a laser pointer and has been shining it in our faces. He’s a light-skinned black male wearing a tan shirt, black jeans. He just jumped the fence. He’s, uh, shining it in officers’ faces. … He can be under arrest for a felony, I’ll authorize the PC. He hit a bunch of us with lasers over here in our eyes.” 12-81 says the man with the laser pointer was headed toward Franklin Avenue and asked for assistance from the helicopter.
9:41 p.m. [96:55] Carroll is talking with a sergeant to his right: “Did you see some that were getting pretty aggressive down there, or no?” Sergeant: “No… so, they’ve had onesies, twosies coming up… and then they just zip tie them.” Carroll: “They just want to get the hell out of here now.” They talk more about the crowd of protesters and arrest logistics. Carroll: “One of the laser pointers is a white sweatshirt, pink backpack.” Sergeant: “Yep. My guys know.” Carroll: “Did they grab her?” Sergeant: “No. She’s still by the white van… Then there was some fuck-head on the street up there,” He points to the south side of the highway, South Ninth Street. “I think S.W.A.T. got him.”
9:45 p.m. [101:08] Over the radio: “2-90 to 3-0-3.” 3-0-3: “3-0-3.” 2-90: “Can we get another squad that can help with transport? We’ve got two separate prisoners and we’ve got two guns and a laser pointer.” 2-90 was radioing from the corner of 22nd Avenue South and Franklin Avenue, presumably with the man with the laser pointer who jumped the fence.
10:07 p.m. [123:09] Over the radio: “12-81, we’ve had a bottle thrown at us here from this crowd at Cedar-94, a hostile crowd that is not moving. Permission to escalate use-of-force to chemical irritant?” There’s a long pause, then a garbled response that is difficult to make out.
10:08 p.m. [124:25] Over the radio: “12-81, we have deployed some chemical irritant here to defend officers that are being assaulted.”
10:10 p.m. [126:05] Carroll walks up to another sergeant toward the highway exit: “Hey.” Sergeant: “I was just telling our guys, don’t be surprised if you smell a chemical.”
Carroll shuts off his body camera after Sgt. Severance tells him to do so to preserve battery.
[646_James_Frost_Police_Event_-6.mp4], 8:21 p.m. – James Frost, strike team (32m 22s), Frost’s complaints, description: Officer James Frost approaches the other officers in the strike team on the highway exit. The group is talking about logistics and how they are going to approach the protesters.
8:24 p.m. [2:50] Frost: “There’s a group against Trump and there’s a group against Biden. I mean, it doesn’t even make sense!”
8:28 p.m. [7:00] The strike team starts approaching the group of protesters.
8:37 p.m. [15:55] A protester in the crowd gives a sermon for some time. Another officer asks Frost: “Who is that? What’s her name again? [inaudible] …she a preacher or something?”
[646_James_Frost_Police_Event_-4.mp4], 9:18 p.m. – James Frost, strike team (10m 10s), Frost’s complaints, description: Officer Frost is with the other strike team officers walking up from behind the median where the bicycle team is positioned.
9:21 p.m. [3:15] Protester: “What you got riot gear on for? We ain’t starting no riots. We’re just using our voices.”
9:22 p.m. [4:30] Frost: “[inaudible] … I like that one better.”
9:24 p.m. [6:55] Frost: “[inaudible] What’s going to happen is we’re going to make the arrests [inaudible].”
9:25 p.m. [7:51] Frost: “I think the bridge is better. Can we go back on the bridge?” Other officer: “The bridge is definitely better…”
[646_Jason_Matthews_Protest_2.mp4], 8:04 p.m. – Jason Matthews, bike team (38m 14s), Matthew’s complaints, description: The footage begins with officer Jason Matthews walking his bike up to the median with other officers. His line of sight is completely blocked by the median and the pillar holding up the pedestrian overpass. Matthews is the second officer to the left of Officer Ruden, whose body camera can be seen resting on the median. Nothing consequential happens or can be seen happening in the body camera footage.
[646_Jason_Matthews_Protest.mp4], 9:20 p.m. – Jason Matthews, bike team (14m 35s), Matthew’s complaints, description: Officer Matthews is with the bike team behind the interstate median in clear view of protesters.
9:22 p.m. [2:00] Protestor with gas mask: “We are taking time out of our day to exercise our constitutional rights, while you are getting paid for this.”
9:24 p.m. [3:50] Protestor: “We’re innocent people. We don’t have guns. We don’t have tasers. All we have is our voice. And you want to take that away from us.”
[646_John_Biederman_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2135.mp4], 9:35 p.m. – John Biederman, strike team (48m 8s), Biederman’s complaints, description: The footage begins with Sergeant John Biederman turning his body camera on, saying that he accidentally turned it off at some point.
9:38 p.m. [3:00] Biederman joins another officer in conversation. The other officer complains about changes to the police department since the George Floyd riots. “We can’t do anything ourselves…”
9:40 p.m. [4:50] The other officer, still talking with Biederman: “Yesterday … the Lieutenant gave the order, ‘Everyone, stop what you’re doing and drive around and look for bricks that were allegedly dropped off in the Southeast area. Like, pallets of bricks.”
9:48 p.m. [13:00] Beiderman walks over to the van and looks in the back. There are two heavily armored officers sitting in the back with long guns under a red light. He tells them that other officers parked their cruisers on the exit ramps three wide, so they would have to move the crowd of protesters to create an open lane for the vans to transport arrestees. The two officers in the van look visibly annoyed. “I can imagine this is going to be a problem,” Biederman said. “So if you guys want to bring your 40s and whatever.”
9:52 p.m. [17:20] Bicycle officers begin crossing the median with their bikes and setting up a closer perimeter around the protesters.
[646_John_Biederman_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2225.mp4], 10:25 p.m. – John Biederman, strike team (13m 13s), Biederman’s complaints, description: The video begins with officer John Biederman putting on gloves inside of a van, then returning to the median with the bike team.
10:28 p.m. [3:38] Another officer: “A reminder to bring a bunch of firearms [inaudible].”
10:29 p.m. [4:18] Biederman, taking a phone call: “No, they’re arresting all of them… like 400…”
10:31 p.m. [6:31] An officer is adjusting his long gun with a scope while resting it on the median.
[646_John_Biederman_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2248.mp4], 10:48 p.m. – John Biederman, strike team (10m 43s), Biederman’s complaints, description: Sergeant John Biederman, who was a part of the S.W.A.T. team that killed Amir Locke, is resting behind the bike team on the other side of the median. The bike team has the protesters kettled in along the freeway wall. The video ends with him entering the passenger side of an unmarked police van before turning off his camera.
[646_Joshua_Domek_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2010.mp4], 8:10 p.m. – Joshua Domek, strike team (126m 52s), Domek’s complaints, description: Officer Joshua Domek is standing with a line of officers dressed in riot gear, brandishing batons to the east of the protesters.
8:16 p.m. [6:07] Domek approaches the officer in front of him and places his hand on the back of the officer’s collar, where his skin is exposed: “They do not come through this fucking line, if they try and push through, that guy that keeps coming up and down.” The other officer: “Just push them back?” Domek: “Yep.” Officer: “Not grabbing them?” Domek: “Push them back for now. They’re already under arrest. If he tries to push the issue, then we’ll deal with it back here.” Domek proceeds to go down the line, saying the same thing to each of the officers in the line.
8:32 p.m. [22:15] Domek approaches another officer in front of him: “See that guy with the green vest?” He points off into the crowd. “They just grabbed a bucket out of the back of the car right there, so I don’t know if they’re grabbing shit out of the back of that car.” Another officer standing to Domek’s left: “I’ve seen a bunch of them with backpacks and shit too, like walking around, like this lady in the blue.”
8:33 p.m. [23:00] Domek, talking with another officer from earlier: “So, this black, er… Do you see where the trunk is open on that car right there?” Officer: “Yeah.” Domek: “They keep going to that car…” Officer: “Yeah, they’re pulling bags out of it. Yeah, we aired that.” Domek: “Oh, did you? OK. I would assume they’re getting ready to start throwing shit.” Officer: “Uh… 12-81 saw it, they thought it was paperwork. Like, legal documents, likely, or something. He said he saw a few water bottles, but nothing. He can’t see in the backpack yet, but it’s heavy. It could be their rights or whatever that they produce sometimes. So it’s kind of a wait and see…” Domek: “Propaganda type stuff?” Officer: “Yeah, yeah. But keep an eye on it.”
8:35 p.m. [25:00] Domek: “There’s a lady…yep, they have a laser.” He approaches a female officer in the line and asks her where her glasses are. He then takes her place in line. He does this for multiple other officers, having them step aside to put on their glasses, presumably because of the laser pointer.
9:17 p.m. [67:00] Domek goes around to each of the officers in the line, telling them that they will be taking over the line held by state troopers, who will begin making arrests shortly.
9:23 p.m. [73:01] State patrol officer: “I don’t know if you guys heard, what they’re doing now is just citing and releasing. So they’re just ticketing people, and as soon as they’ve got a bus full, they’ll just start driving in multiple directions and go, ‘OK, get off. See yah.’” Domek: “I like it.” State patrol officer: “So, anybody that was under the impression they were getting booked is just going to end up with a ticket and a ride to somewhere else.”
9:23 p.m. [73:50] A bald-headed state patrol officer walks up to the group of officers talking: “We need to relieve all of our troopers here, so we’ve got to make sure though, that we have enough MPD and Hennepin County here to hold this and make sure they don’t push past. When we feel confident that we have that, then we’ll move.”
9:26 p.m. [76:30] Domek issues orders to his unit, “platoon three,” having them move in formation.
10:02 p.m. [112:55] Domek goes up the line of officers, which is now significantly closer to the group of protesters after having moved in formation, and informs them that other officers are going to start “pushing back” protesters on the road overlooking the highway, Butler Place, by Augsburg University to the north. “There’s a couple hundred people up there … don’t get overrun by these guys [referring to the protesters on the highway]. Nobody comes through this fucking line. OK?”
10:14 p.m. [124:40] Sgt. Matthew Severance walks up and asks if everything is OK. Domek: “Yeah, Nekima just turned on her car.” Severance: “Turned on her what?” Domek raises his hand and points at the orange car that the officers were worried about three minutes ago: “That’s Nekima [Last name?]. The orange car right there. Then she quickly got out … The 40s were trained on her by state patrol here.” Severance: “The state patrol likes to shoot 40s at cars, they are trained professionals.” He laughs. “I am a big, big fan. Big fan.” He walks away.
Domek turns off his body camera while nothing is happening to conserve battery.
[646_Joshua_Metcalf_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2242.mp4], 10:42 p.m. – Joshua Metcalf, strike team (1m 18s), Metcalf’s complaints, description: Officer Joshua Metcalf is with the strike team at the fence above the freeway, joking about dancing with the crowd.
[646_Juan_Valencia_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2238.mp4], 10:38 p.m. – Juan Valencia, bike team (5m 31s), Valencia’s complaints, description: A bystander asks officer Juan Valencia for his badge number while he is standing in the line of bike officers along the median. Valencia does not respond.
[646_Juan_Valencia_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2245.mp4], 10:45 p.m. – Juan Valencia, bike team (0m 38s), Valencia’s complaints, description: Officer Valencia walks toward the median, away from the crowd of protesters. The protester with the megaphone is directly in view.
[646_Justin_Reisdorfer_BRRT_PROTEST_ARREST-2.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Justin Reisdorfer, bike team (32m 24s), Reisdorfer’s complaints, description: Officer Justin Reisdorfer is another officer in the bike team, situated under the pedestrian bridge. The recording opens to Officer Reisdorfer checking his personal cellphone.
8:06 p.m. [0:46] Sergeant: “They’re all under arrest.” Reisdorfer: “Copy, sarge.”
8:06 p.m. [1:15] Reisdorfer: “We now have them properly secured…”
8:12 p.m. [7:04] Reisdorfer: “So… I think you can start… arrests.”
8:18 p.m. [13:10] Another officer talking over the radio: “You guys are going to hold that street. Ninth street is going to be your problem … [inaudible].”
8:33 p.m. [28:40] The crowd of protesters claps as officers walk off children with an adult.
[646_Justin_Reisdorfer_BRRT_PROTEST_ARREST.mp4], 9:19 p.m. – Justin Reisdorfer, bike team (9m 46s), Reisdorfer’s complaints, description: Officer Reisdorfer is in the middle of the bike officers lined up along the median with a clear view of the protesters.
9:22 p.m. [3:10] A protester: “We’re being arrested… what’s taking so long?” Reisdorfer tells the protester that they are processing people one at a time.
[646_Kenneth_Feucht_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2005.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Kenneth Feucht, bike team (37m 48s), Feucht’s complaints, description: Sergeant Kenneth Feucht is behind the bike unit lined up along the median. The footage opens with Feucht walking alongside the bike officers, shouting for them to turn their body cameras on.
8:13 p.m. [8:15] Feucht is telling officers in the bike unit to have flex cuffs ready.
8:17 p.m. [12:15] Feucht goes to another officer and asks if they have more flex cuffs, the officer goes off to check.
8:21 p.m. [16:10] An officer passes Feucht with his arms full of additional flex cuffs. The officer Feucht had asked earlier, is in tow.
8:41 p.m. [35:50] Feucht approaches an officer in the bike unit line who is looking at his cellphone: “Is that your work phone?” Other officer: “No, personal.” Feucht: “OK, you know the…arguments against pulling those out…you know, reasons why you shouldn’t pull out your personal phone?” Other officer: “No…” Feucht: “Because if people decide to sue us, they can subpoena your phone.”
Feucht turns off his body camera to conserve battery.
[646_Kyle_Pond_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2020-2.mp4], 8:20 p.m. – Kyle Pond, strike team (34m 21s), Pond’s complaints, description: Officer Kyle Pond, who was among officers who had killed Chiasher Vue in north Minneapolis less than a year prior, is with the strike team at the freeway exit. The video opens with four officers walking toward the group of protesters. At least two of the officers have pepperspray/mace ready in hand.
8:22 p.m. [1:56] Commanding officer: “There’s 500 people here, when they find out they’re going to jail … chances are they don’t want to go to jail, so they might run…” He continues to give instructions of how they’re going to “grab” running protesters…
8:36 p.m. [15:54] Pond: “I gotta say, as of right now, I’m impressed … with this operation.” Officer Alexandra Dubay: “You should’ve seen it the first time. You would’ve been pissed.” Pond: “Just madness?” Dubay: “It was this, mowing over people, [inaudible], not allowed to make a mess. It was the worst.” Pond: “Really?” Dubay: “It was the worst.”
8:36 p.m. [16:25] Dubay: “The first three days of the riots were the worst three days of my life. They got away with everything. I got not f*cking sleep. [inaudible] … And the precinct.”
8:39 p.m. [19:20] Mosey: “Alright, my guys. Remember… if they resist, squirt them.” Dubay can be seen smirking at Sgt. Mosey’s remark.
8:39 p.m. [19:37] Pond: “Confirmation on the squirting.” Another officer: “There’s a guy with a gas mask, a couple with gas masks [inaudible]…”
8:42 p.m. [21:50] Mosey inspecting Pond’s mace: “That’s the good one … is there a pin on this?” Pond: “No, you just shake and… click.” Mosey: “Shake-n-bake.” Pond repeats what Mosey said, laughing.
8:42 p.m. [22:14] Pond: “Are [your body cams] still on?” Dubay: “Yeah, you’re on until it goes dead now.”
9:24 p.m. [23:40] Dubay: “There are a lot of other cops here; it does not stop here.” Pond: “Oh jeez, you aint kidding, Allie.”
The footage ends after Mosey interrupts a mostly inaudible conversation between Pond and Dubay, asking them to turn off their cameras.
[646_Kyle_Pond_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2118-2.mp4], 9:18 p.m. – Kyle Pond, strike team (9m 21s), Pond’s complaints, description: Officer Pond fixes his tear gas gun across his chest while walking toward the median behind the bike team.
9:23 p.m. [5:15] Pond whispers to another officer: “He’s talking… that cop is talking to the press.” Other officer: “Is it Dylan?” Pond: “I don’t know.”
Pond joins a different group of officers in the bike team, telling them, “it was pretty boring over there.” Then he turns off his body camera.
Access all of the videos in the vault || Full article and previous coverage here
[646_Lamandre_Wright_Protest-4.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Lamandre Wright Sr., bike team (37m 35s), Wright’s complaints, description: Officer Lamandre Wright Sr. is on the bike team close to the cruisers, behind the median. Wright stays behind the median with a clear view of other teams for the entirety of the video.
8:37 p.m. [32:30] Officers talking about how slow the operation is going.
8:39 p.m. [34:00] An officer from the strike team struggles to carry a heavy barricade or ladder over the median.
8:42 p.m. [36:46] The officer returns with the barricade or ladder and can be heard saying it’s tactical and costs “$800,” which the other officers confirm.
The sergeant tells the officers to turn off their body cameras to conserve battery life. Wright turns off his bodycam, ending the video.
[646_Lamandre_Wright_Protest-2.mp4], 9:52 p.m. – Lamandre Wright Sr., bike team (20m 50s), Wright’s complaints, description: Officer Wright Sr. is one of the bike officers lined up along the median.
[646_Lee_Shafer_EVENT-4.mp4], 8:21 p.m. – Lee Shafer, strike team (33m 11s), Shafer’s complaints, description: Officer Lee Shafer is standing with the other members of the strike team. Starts with ICR and Mosey discussing their plan to handle protesters. Adjacent to [646_Kyle_Pond_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2020-2.mp4].
8:25 p.m. [4:15] Mosey: “If I’m laying on the ground and they’re beating me…” Officer: “That would never happen.” Sgt. Mosey: “Well…” He smirks, then says: “Are the cameras on?” Officer: “Yes, it is.” Sgt. Mosey: “Then I can’t continue my sentence.”
8:34 p.m. [13:26] Shafer: “This guy in the grey shirt just looked crazy right now. Keep an eye on him… he’s got a backpack.” Other officer: “It’s a vest.” Shafer: “Is that what that is? A ballistic vest?” Other officer: “I think it’s one of those fake ones.” Shafer: “He just passed it off to her.”
8:39 p.m. [18:18] Another angle of Mosey telling the strike team: “If they resist, squirt them.”
8:45 p.m. [23:54] Shafer: “I don’t understand what’s taking so long … we’re just letting them grow bigger … I’d rather take fast action, get it in , get it done … This allows them to plan, call their friends.”
8:47 p.m. [25:54] Shafer: “I smell marijuana.”
8:47 p.m. [26:10] Shafer: “That’s the Unicorn Riot guy.” Other officer: “Where?” Shafer: “With the orange–or it looks orange–with the light square. That’s him.”
8:54 p.m. [33:08] Mosey: “You guys wanna turn your cameras off for now?” Shafer: “Deactivating.”
[646_Lee_Shafer_EVENT.mp4], 9:23 p.m. – Lee Shafer, strike team (5m 52s), Shafer’s complaints, description: Officer Shafer is behind the line of bike officers standing behind the median.
9:24 p.m. [1:30] Other officer: “I don’t know what’s taking so long…” Shafer: “I bet you they just don’t have the resources.” Other officer: “Like they agreed to leave the highway…” Shafer: “So, we’re going to escort them off, and then they destroy everything? We can’t give them that.” Other officer: “That’s what’s going to happen.”
[646_Lucas_Peterson_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2306.mp4], 11:06 p.m. – Lucas Peterson, strike team (0m 35s), Peterson’s complaints, description: Officer Lucas Peterson’s body camera footage only has a brief glimpse of the crowd. Peterson has a long track record of excessive force and killing community members. Peterson was one of the Minneapolis police officers who killed Terrance Franklin in 2013 and also was involved in training Derek Chauvin.
[646_Marcus_Ottney_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2330.mp4], 11:30 p.m. – Marcus Ottney (6m 36s), Ottney’s complaints, description: Footage from the perspective of officer Marcus Ottney of Amina MacKaskill being arrested for allegedly shining a laser towards police. During the Coronavirus pandemic, MacKaskill asks for her mask to be put on twice, but her request is not granted.
[646_Michael_Meath_Protest_.mp4], 8:25 p.m. – Michael Meath, strike team (84m 2s), Meath’s complaints, description: Officer Michael Meath, who participated in the killing of unarmed Terrance Franklin in 2013, is on the passenger side of the unmarked police van. As he leaves and heads toward the line of officers along the median, you can see an assault rifle that he slings around his shoulder.
9:14 p.m. [49:35] Protesters chanting together: “This is what democracy looks like!” Meath, to himself: “No it’s not.” Protesters: “This is what community looks like!” Meath: “Nope. Wrong again.” Protesters: “This is what community looks like!” Meath, putting his hand on the shoulder of the officer next to him: “Wrong again.” Other officer: “What’s that?” Meath: “I said they’re wrong.” Officer: “True.”
9:15 p.m. [50:34] Protester speaking into a megaphone: “Is that a black man I see over there in blue? Is that a black man? I know you’re fucking with me! I know you’re lying! You can choose if you want to be black or blue!” Meath, to the officer next to him: “That’s the most racist thing I’ve ever heard.”
9:35 p.m. [70:10] Meath, to the tune of Wild Cherry’s Play that Funky Music: “It’s stupid. It’s stupid. It’s stupid, stupid-stupid. It’s dumb. It’s stupid. Dumb, dumb, dumb, duh-dumb.”
The footage ends as Meath is talking with another officer about the photo of another officer’s Halloween costume, where the officer is dressed as a dalmatian and his leash is held by his wife, who is dressed as Cruella De Vil. Before the other officer is able to show Meath the photo, he turns off his body camera.
[646_Michael_Meath_Protest_-2.mp4], 9:51 p.m. – Michael Meath, bike team (30m 34s), Meath’s complaints, description: Officer Michael Meath is one of the bike officers lined up along the median. Meath was on the S.W.A.T. team that killed Terrance Franklin in 2013.
[646_Mike_Nimlos_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2021.mp4], 8:21 p.m. – Mike Nimlos, strike team (32m 34s), Nimlos’ complaints, description: Officer Mike Nimlos is with the other members of the strike team on the highway exit, adjacent to [646_Kyle_Pond_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2020-2.mp4].
[646_Mohamud_Jama_Event_.mp4], 8:04 p.m. – Mohamud Jama, bike team (24m 58s), Jama’s complaints, description: The bike team is in motion to set up behind the median. Officer Mohamud Jama is behind a pillar of the pedestrian bridge, and the crowd is out of view.
[646_Nicholas_Anderson_94_Protest.mp4], 8:04 p.m. – Nicholas Anderson, bike team (1m 8s), Anderson’s complaints, description: Officer Nicholas Anderson is stationed with the bike team behind the median. Protesters chant, “Get a real job.” Anderson shuts down his body camera after a minute.
[646_Nicholas_Anderson_94_Protest-4.mp4], 8:05 PM – Nicholas Anderson, bike team (36m 58s), Anderson’s complaints, description: The bike team is stationed at the freeway exit while the crowd is kettled. Officer Nicholas Anderson’s point of view is on the outside of the kettle, behind the median.
8:06 p.m. [0:50] From the police, over a loudspeaker: “You are all under arrest.”
8:06 p.m. [1:10] “There are children in this crowd. Are you arresting the children too?”
8:06 p.m. [1:25] An officer in the bike team can be heard saying: “I’ll arrest them for child endangerment [inaudible] freeway.”
8:07 p.m. [2:37] Protester on megaphone: “When you finish arresting us, could you arrest Donald Trump for being a public nuisance, please?” The crowd of protesters cheers. From the police, over a loudspeaker again: “You are all under arrest for public nuisance. Sit down and do it now.”
8:11 p.m. [6:34] Protester on megaphone: “We would already be off the highway if you would allow us to be off the highway.”
8:16 p.m. [10:48] Officer: “Hey, you can’t be using those 40s we got [inaudible]” Another officer: “We know, we know, we’re not…” A third officer: “Unless it all goes to hell, then…” Sergeant: “Even if they rush us, don’t use it… unless they’re literally attacking, throwing things, and actually attacking us.”
8:28 p.m. [23:10] Officer: “I’m just amazed that this crowd hasn’t just [inaudible].”
The footage ends with the officers discussing reinforcements and logistics of a mass arrest. Police closing in on the protesters around the last eight minutes of the video. At the very end, Alexander announces he is turning off his camera.
[646_Nicholas_McCarthy_94_Protest_MFF.mp4], 8:07 p.m. – Nicholas McCarthy, strike team (42m 17s), McCarthy’s complaints, description: Sergeant Nicholas McCarthy is on the highway exit with the strike unit members. Nicholas McCarthy was involved in the 2008 retaliatory killing of teacher and disc jockey Quincy Smith, or “Q the Blacksmith,” after Smith sued MPD for excessive force. Smith was beaten and tased to death. McCarthy’s camera is on sideways, and the officers in view are dressed in riot gear. McCarthy is mostly quiet, the majority of the footage shows protesters heckling officers.
8:33 p.m. [26:25] McCarthy: “Somebody lost something back there.” Sgt. James Carroll: “Oh, like a piece of equipment?” McCarthy: “I heard, like, metal hitting the ground.” Carroll: “Oh, shit. Did we find out what it was?” McCarthy: “I didn’t see it, so I don’t know if it got kicked, because I tried to turn right away and see where it went.” Carroll: “Yeah, it was kind of hard to tell how far the line was…” McCarthy: “I’m just letting you know, remind me once we get back to have everybody check their stuff.” Carroll: “Could’ve been like a fucking magazine or something like that.” McCarthy: “That’s what it sounded like, that’s why I stopped.”
McCarthy talks with another two officers about having heard something fall, then takes out a flashlight to go search for it. As he walks away, he turns off his body camera.
[646_Nicholas_McCarthy_MFF_Protest_Arrest.mp4], 9:19 p.m. – Nicholas McCarthy, strike team (56m 55s), McCarthy’s complaints, description: The footage begins with Sergeant Nicholas McCarthy standing with a group of other heavily armored officers on the western side of the protesters.
9:21 p.m. [2:19] McCarthy: “So they’re making arrests from that end, pushing this way,” McCarthy gestures east, toward the other end of the highway. “So, eventually, when that group gets done processing, we’re going to be taking the line to relieve some troopers to go make some arrests.” McCarthy continues to coordinate among officers.
9:58 p.m. [39:30] Another officer is trying to engage in small talk with McCarthy, it’s mostly inaudible. McCarthy, cutting him off and sounding aggravated: “Even if you yell, I can’t hear shit in these helmets. You could be standing right next to me and I’m not going to hear you.” Other officer: “That’s the nice thing about… this. So–” McCarthy: “I’d rather just move on.” Other officer: “Yeah… Even though it’s more slow and methodical…”
McCarthy is mostly quiet throughout his body camera footage, standing in line with other officers. McCarthy ends the footage to conserve battery.
[646_Nicholas_Wasche_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2204.mp4], 10:04 p.m. – Nicholas Wasche, bike team (16m 37s), Wasche’s complaints, description: Officer Nicholas Wasche is on the pedestrian bridge overlooking the crowd of protesters.
10:05 p.m. [1:20] Bicycle officers start to surround people walking on a nearby sidewalk.
10:06 p.m. [2:40] One of the protesters tries to climb the wall to exit the highway. They end up just standing on the side of the wall separating them from the waiting police officers.
10:11 p.m. [6:45] An officer makes him get down and back into the crowd.
[646_Paul_OHanlon_no_ccn_BRRT_detail.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Paul O’Hanlon, bike team (21m 52s), O’Hanlon’s complaints, description: Officer Paul O’Hanlon is another officer in the bike team behind the median, adjacent to [646_Ryan_Carrero_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2005.mp4].
8:06 p.m. [1:35] O’Hanlon: “So, we came out here five hours early to make sure no one gets on the highway, and they got on the highway immediately and now we have to stay late … I’m so done with this fucking job.”
8:08 p.m. [3:30] O’Hanlon to Officer Travis Hansen: “I’m so fucking hungry right now.” Hansen: “Hopefully this prevents any more shenanigans.” O’Hanlon: “It’s already fucking ten after… Jesus Christ…” Hansen: “Just think about all the Chick-fil-A you’re going to buy with this overtime money.” O’Hanlon: “I have plenty of money…”
8:09 p.m. [4:18] O’Hanlon: “Trump lost. What’s the protest?”
8:09 p.m. [4:35] O’Hanlon: “This is what the protestors want … to block the highway and take up a bunch of space and get arrested. They won, we lost.” Hansen: “We can’t let them march all night on the highway.” O’Hanlon: “But the thing is, they march on the highway so they can go to jail … why just not let them get on the highway? Then we win.”
8:10 p.m. [5:25] O’Hanlon: “…At least this puts an end to it for tonight, even if we lose every other night…”
8:17 p.m. [12:00] Clear view of officers in riot gear with extra-long batons.
8:20 p.m. [15:00] O’Hanlon: “There’s only like 50 of us left, so that’s like the whole police department … I don’t know why I’m still here.”
8:22 p.m. [17:40] O’Hanlon: “I’m so fucking hungry right now. Maybe the most hungry I’ve ever been.”
[646_Roger_Moua_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2147.mp4], 9:47 p.m. – Roger Moua (91m 18s), Moua’s compaints, description: Officer Roger Moua is behind the bike unit lined up along the median, standing next to members of the strike unit.
9:48 p.m. [0:30] Officer Moua: “Did you hear their plan?” Other officer: “No…” Moua: “So apparently, the booking bus is full, and they can’t put the bitch in reverse because it’s fucking blocked off by 20, 30 squads. So, they want these fine officers here [gesturing to the bike unit] to jump the retaining wall and make a lane for the bus to go back, and then come back.” Other officer: “Why don’t they use the strike forces?” Moua: “Eventually they’re going to do something, so I don’t know.”
9:51 p.m. [4:00] Officers are getting heckled by a protester.
9:52 p.m. [5:10] Officers begin hopping the median to approach protesters. Moua is whistling what sounds like the Imperial March (Darth Vader’s theme) from Star Wars.
11:13 p.m. [1:26:00] Moua, talking with another officer about the tactics being used by the police: “This is crazy, and this is going to be like the norm. It’s stupid.” The other officer: “Yep, you’re right.”
Most of what is said is inaudible beneath the music being played by the protesters. Moua mostly stands around and greets other officers. Moua turns off his body camera before entering an unmarked, white police van.
[646_Ryan_Atkinson_POLICE_EVENT_-2.mp4], 7:53 p.m. – Ryan Atkinson, bike team (4m 50s), Atkinson’s complaints, description: The video starts with the bike team crossing the grass median to the freeway. Officer Ryan Atkinson is loading his tear gas gun.
7:57 p.m. [4:25] Another officer talking over the radio: “In preparation for any arrest activities … use of force protocols … authorized to stop assault and riotous behavior, 40mm juice by 12/80 [inaudible] only … working rounds to stop assaultive behavior only.”
[646_Ryan_Atkinson_POLICE_EVENT_.mp4] 8:04 p.m. – Ryan Atkinson, bike team (1m 14s), Atkinson’s complaints, description: Officer Ryan Atkinson goes live and has a conversation with other officers. One of the officers tells him to turn it off, and the footage ends.
[646_Ryan_Atkinson_POLICE_EVENT_-3.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Ryan Atkinson, bike team (7m 39s), Atkinson’s complaints, description: Officer Atkinson is with the bike team behind the median holding a 40mm marker round gun.
8:06 p.m. [1:25] Atkinson, after the protester with the megaphone says there are children in the crowd: “We’ll arrest them for child endangerment…” Another officer: “I was going to say that sounds like another charge to me.”
[646_Ryan_Atkinson_POLICE_EVENT_-5.mp4], 8:16 p.m. – Ryan Atkinson, bike team (25m 37s), Atkinson’s complaints, description: Officer Atkinson is standing behind the bike team, located on the other side of the median from the protesters.
8:20 p.m. [4:22] Discussion over the radio can be heard about a protester with a backpack “potentially” full of water bottles. “It doesn’t appear that it’s necessarily anything that could [inaudible].”
8:22 p.m. [6:10] Atkinson: “Something tells me that spray paint over there is recent.”
8:28 p.m. [11:45] Atkinson: “I’m sure this guy has irritated some of these [inaudible].” Another officer: “Yeah, I’m sure he has…”
8:29 p.m. [12:50] Atkinson: “We’re going to need at least like four buses.”
8:29 p.m. [13:25] Atkinson: “Did this guy just promote his Spotify?” Another officer: “Yep.”
8:32 p.m. [16:15] Atkinson: “The dude that’s singing is getting talked to… by like one of the other dudes, like, ‘hey, you’re interfering with what they’re saying.’”
At the end of the video, one of the officers can be heard saying they are going to shut off their body cameras until “they get rowdy.”
[646_Ryan_Carrero_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2005.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Ryan Carrero, bike team (27m 40s), Carrero’s complaints, description: Officer Ryan Carrero, who was a part of the S.W.A.T. team that killed Amir Locke, is standing behind the median with the bike team watching other police officers arresting one of the protesters.
8:06 p.m. [0:55] Carrero laughs: “They mean business…”
8:07 p.m. [2:05] Officer to the left of Carrero: “It’s fucking [inaudible].” The officer laughs.
8:05 p.m. [10:05] An officer can be seen going through a bag, presumably belonging to a protester they are arresting.
8:16 p.m. [11:01] The strike force is seen taking the arrested protester away.
8:16 p.m. [11:06] Carrero gets a text message on his phone and intentionally covers his body camera with his hand.
8:31 p.m. [25:50] Officer Carrero covers his body camera again after taking his gloves off, presumably to answer phone texts.
[646_Steve_Bantle_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2008.mp4], 8:08 p.m. – Steve Bantle (98m 35s) // Bantle’s complaints (no complaints), description: The footage begins with another officer in riot gear showing Sergeant Steve Bantle how to turn on his body camera.
8:17 p.m. [9:18] Sergeant: “State’s asking if we have extra supplies of flex cuffs…” Bantle: “I mean, we’ve got some. How many?” Sergeant: “They’re asking for, uh… [he gestures out toward the protesters] I mean, they’ve got to arrest all these people I guess, so…” Bantle approaches another officer in riot gear: “Can you round up flex cuffs from your guys for those troopers?” The officer: “You need more?” Bantle: “Yeah, the troopers need a shit load.”
8:18 p.m. [10:15] Another officer, telling others to go grab more flex cuffs: “Whatever you have. This is going to be the long haul…”
8:24 p.m. [16:45] Bantle: “Let’s get some of these people arrested!” He chuckles. Other officer: “What’s that?” Bantle: “I said, let’s get some of these people arrested!”
8:31 p.m. [23:15] Another officer, talking to Bantle: “State patrol requested we get 20 to 25 guys to give them line relief, so then their guys can start making arrests.” Another officer: “We got U of M mobile field corps on their way down.”
8:42 p.m. [34:15] Another officer in riot gear talking to Bantle: “I just talked to Adam, he’s got two more bike teams coming down…”
8:44 p.m. [35:55] Another officer talking to Bantle “[inaudible].” Bantle: “Yeah. She had a laser beam, and she, yeah… put it in one of the officer’s eyes. I don’t know who.”
8:48 p.m. [40:00] Bantle: “I think we might see the sun come up on this one…” Other officer: “What’s that?” Bantle: “If they’re going to arrest all of these people, we’re going to see the sun come up.”
8:50 p.m. [41:55] An officer in riot gear talking to another officer: “If you want to let your guys know, this is probably going to be several hours. Even when they move in, the booking process… slowly moving in, grabbing people, booking them. Moving in more, grabbing them… This is going to be a long process.”
8:53 p.m. [44:55] Another officer, talking to Bantle: “Did they get the booking bus down here yet?” Bantle: “Yeah, they’re down here. They’re booking.” The other officer: “Only one at a time or something?” Bantle: “Eh…Oh yeah, they’re grabbing them. But I mean, yeah, it’s going to take a bit. I mean, they’ll fill that bus up ten times.”
8:53 p.m. [45:30] Another officer: “The sheriff showed up!” Bantle: “Was it the sheriff?” The other officer: “Yeah, the sheriff. He’s here with his boys.” Bantle: “Oh really, OK … never seen that before.”
9:03 p.m. [55:40] Line relief arrives, begins lining up along the median with other officers. Sheriff’s deputies from Hennepin County mention they brought two vans for booking, with the ability to fit eight arrestees in each. Bantle: “That’ll help a lot, because we’re going to run out of space quick.”
9:04 p.m. [56:20] Sergeant, speaking to the sheriff’s deputies: “Alright, here’s the deal. Your boss is down there. I didn’t square that with him. Our lieutenant decided that he wanted our booking contingent not to arrest people. So that’s why they’re going to leave some of our people. But I wanted to make sure it was OK with you, and I don’t want to cause problems with your sheriff.”
9:06 p.m. [57:50] Bantle goes up the line of officers along the highway median, telling platoon 1 officers in riot gear to move quietly in a single-file line to move in on the crowd.
9:09 p.m. [61:30] Bantle approaches the state patrol captain to discuss the plan. The captain tells him to line his officers up behind the state patrol officers before they start moving in. Footage shows Bantle coordinating officers in riot gear to create a line behind state patrol officers.
9:16 p.m. [67:49] State patrol captain steps out in front of the line of officers. Bantle then gets a phone call from “Adrian,” whom he had called earlier to see if they needed any help.
9:31 p.m. [82:45] The first officers move up from the line and begin arresting a protester who was out front.
9:32 p.m. [83:22] Bantle approaches a sergeant, who is leaning against the median watching a line of officers march down the highway: “How’s it going with the booking?” Sergeant: “Uh… That is our problem, right there. He just keeps wandering in, and he wants to change everything at the last minute. He didn’t want any of his people doing the booking because he didn’t want to mess it up. He wanted it all state patrol. So, once state patrol figured out that that’s what he was doing, they said, ‘well, we’ll do it all.’ And that’s why we’re up, taking all the spots on the line right now.”
9:33 p.m. [84:40] Sergeant, to Bantle: “Part of the problem is…our booking element showed up with four squad cars, so they could book eight people…That makes no sense to me whatsoever.” Bantle: “We’d be here for a week.”
9:38 p.m. [89:10] An officer at the median gets Bantle’s attention: “Sir, I’m just trying to keep track of everyone. Are there two platoons over here or just one from Minneapolis?” Bantle: “There’s just one here and two on the other side.”
9:43 p.m. [95:40] State patrol officers begin moving past the line of police officers and into the crowd. Shortly after, they start walking back with protesters.
9:46 p.m. [98:38] Bantle: “We’re fairly static here, so I’m shutting off.” He turns off his body camera, and the footage ends.
[646_Steven_Klimpke_94_PROTEST.mp4], 8:04 p.m. – Steven Klimpke, bike team (38m 14s), Klimpke’s complaints, description: Sergeant Steven Klimpke is behind the line of bicycle officers lined up along the median, and the footage begins as he rolls his bike to his position. Nothing significant happens throughout the footage. At the very end, before he turns off his own, he goes down the line of officers along the median, telling them to turn off their body cameras to conserve battery.
[646_Steven_Klimpke_PROTEST_94.mp4], 9:22 p.m. – Steven Klimpke, bike team (10m 16s), Klimpke’s complaints, description: Officer Steven Klimpke is located behind the bike officers lined up along the median.
9:24 p.m. [1:47] Another officer walks up to officer Klimpke: “Keep an eye on her [referring to the megaphone user]. When they start getting close to arresting her, I’m going to go over there and [inaudible].” Klimpke: “OK, perfect.”
[646_Steven_Klimpke_PROTEST_94-2.mp4], 9:56 p.m. – Steven Klimpke, bike team (16m 47s), Klimpke’s complaints, description: Officer Klimpke moves his bike from the median toward the crowd.
[646_Steven_Mosey_Protest_.mp4], 8:29 p.m. – Steven Mosey, strike team leader (24m 16s), Mosey’s complaints, description: Strike team leader Sgt. Steven Mosey is called to the exit ramp along with the rest of the strike team to prevent the crowd of protesters from running.
8:35 p.m. [6:06] Somebody talking over the radio said a laser was pointed at an officer’s face.
8:36 p.m. [7:04] Over the radio, a plainclothes officer is given the location of an apartment building and a directive to get a door open so the police department can gain roof access.
8:44 p.m. [15:44] Speaking with another officer, Mosey says they would not be arresting so many protesters if “3,000” people came.
8:45 p.m. [16:20] Tactical discussion and jokes.
8:51 p.m. [22:19] Officers joke about eating gummies and mushrooms.
[646_Tony_Partyka_POLICE_EVENT.mp4], 8:20 p.m. – Tony Partyka, strike team (33m 30s), Partyka’s complaints, description: Officer Tony Partyka is with the strike team on the freeway exit. Nothing significant occurs, Partyka is largely silent.
[646_Travis_Hansen_Protest-3.mp4], 8:05 p.m. – Travis Hansen, bike team (37m 21s), Hansen’s complaints, description: Officer Travis Hansen is located behind the median and the officers pinning down the group of protesters, adjacent to [646_Lamandre_Wright_Protest-2.mp4].
8:09 p.m. [3:47] Hansen: “Hopefully this will prevent more shenanigans for the rest of the week, like ‘oh they’re actually arresting people.'”
8:09 p.m. [3:56] Hansen: “Just think about all the Chick-fil-A you’ll be able to eat with all of this overtime money.”
8:10 p.m. [4:44] Officers talking about protestors: “This is what they want… to get arrested … let them march all night… then we win!”
8:12 p.m. [7:40] The strike team requests extra flex cuffs from bike officers: “We’re going to run out here….”
8:28 p.m. [22:54] Strike team begins entering the crowd of protesters.
8:38 p.m. [32:50] Hansen points out the protester singing into the megaphone, “… He’ll probably get arrested soon.”
[646_Tyler_Klund_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2316.mp4], 11:16 p.m. – Tyler Klund, bike team (16m 29s), Klund’s complaints, description: Officer Tyler Klund stands on the pedestrian bridge looking down on the protesters from above.
11:24 p.m. [8:30] Klund tries to identify specific protesters in the crowd: “The guy with the black mask just ripped away from the officer … I wanted to greet him, but I don’t know the rules anymore.”
11:27 p.m. [11:27] Klund: “Where is that resisting arrest guy who pulled away from troopers when they were trying to get him?”
[646_Tyler_Klund_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2358.mp4], 11:58 p.m. – Tyler Klund, bike team (0m 43s), Klund’s complaints, description: Officer Tyler Klund is with other bike officers. Klund’s body camera gives us a brief view of the crowd from the pedestrian bridge.
[646_Xavier_Rucker_HWY_94_&_Cedar.mp4], 9:50 p.m. – Xavier Rucker, bike team (82m 8s), Rucker’s complaints, description: Officer Xavier Rucker is standing behind the median. Similar to [646_Benjamin_Bauer_Axon_Body_3_Video_2020-11-04_2150.mp4], the footage begins shortly before the bicycle officers hop the median and close in on the protesters.
9:51 p.m. [1:20] Another officer: “Let’s jump this bitch right now,” referring to the median.
9:52 p.m. [2:09] Over the radio: “1-0-2 to the officers on the barricade. Number one: execute.” The bicycle officers can then be seen immediately hopping the median with their bikes.
9:52 p.m. [2:38] The same voice over the radio: “Number two: execute.” Rucker and the officers around him proceed to hop the median and join the other officers, presumably group number one. Rucker seems to struggle while crossing the median.
9:53 p.m. [3:28] Over the radio again: “One and two, you guys on the line? That bus is going to be coming behind you.” Another voice over the radio: “Copy 1-0-2.”
9:54 p.m. [4:15] A different voice over the radio: “99-0-1 to 12-82.” 12-82: “12-82.” 99-0-1: “Are you guys tied up on anything?” 12-82: “Nope.” 99-0-1: “There’s a group on the 20th Avenue bridge, going over the freeway–I’m getting this in full from your unit–that could be dispersed. They’re starting to congregate and have a sound system and stuff. But the belief is that if you just roll through and just show some presence and stuff, they will disperse.” 12-82: “Copy.”
9:57 p.m. [7:20] Another voice over the radio: “12-82, just to give you a heads up, there’s about 50 people on that bridge.”
10:04 p.m. [14:40] A crowd that formed on South 9th Street, above the contained protesters but behind a chain-link fence, begins chanting “Leave them alone.”
11:06 p.m. [76:40] The protesters begin chanting, “The world is watching!” An officer near Rucker can be heard saying, “No one cares. No one cares. We all think [inaudible]. If you didn’t go on the highway, the whole world wouldn’t back you. No one backs a [inaudible]. Ever.”
11:10 p.m. [80:02] An officer over the radio: “3-0-3, state patrol is reporting, uh, 10 people and four vehicles blocking 20th Avenue bridge traffic.”
11:11 p.m. [81:10] The same officer, talking over the radio: “6-2-6, Be advised, state patrol now reporting 20 people with 10 vehicles involved.”
11:11 p.m. [81:45] An officer near Rucker, talking to another officer: “…people are fucking stupid… [inaudible]. I think she was in here, and they brought her out, and they’re just kicking her.” He points behind Rucker. Rucker: “You sure? Because there…” The footage abruptly ends after Rucker’s equipment begins buzzing and beeping.
Access all of the videos in the vault || Full article and previous coverage here
By: L. Cam Anderson and Randon Martin, Contributors and Niko Georgiades, Unicorn Riot. Cover image by L. Cam Anderson.
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Helicopter Footage From Mass Arrest Reveals State Trooper Surveillance Capabilities, Tactics, and Communications [August 2023]
Body Cameras Show How Police Acted During Minneapolis’ Largest Mass Arrest [November 2025]
A Guide to the 646 Video Dump [November 2025]
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