During today’s press conference where Brooklyn Center Police Chief Gannon revealed what happened yesterday with respect to Daunte Wright’s death, a reporter/questioner asked Gannon why he issued a dispersal order and then ten minutes later dispersed the crowd with CO2 canisters and gas:
Brooklyn Center Police Chief Gannon: "I was front and center… at the riot."
Reporter: "There was no riot."
Gannon: "There was… the officers that were putting themselves in harm's way were being pelted with frozen cans of pop, they were being pelted with concrete blocks." pic.twitter.com/aM5rfjYpxx
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 12, 2021
For clarity’s sake, the police chief made sure they all knew he was on the front lines last night during riot.
But as soon as he said the word ‘riot’, several reporters/questioners immediately claimed there was NO ‘riot’ there, with one saying ‘no don’t do that’.
The police chief responded there was a riot and proceeded to explain that his officers were being pelted with frozen soda cans, concrete blocks, etc.
And he’s not wrong. We posted one video of a guy about to throw a concrete block at police but they got him first:
Brooklyn Center, Minn.: BLM rioter who was about to throw a large chunk of concrete at police was hit with an impact munition. He falls to the ground in pain. #Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/Yj0ZkS3rkF
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) April 12, 2021