Police Officers Slashed Car Tires During Minneapolis Protests, Police Agencies Say

Minnesota State Police troopers and other law officers slashed the tires of dozens of cars in Minneapolis during large protests over the killing of George Floyd while in custody, two police agencies say.

"There were instances when State Patrol troopers strategically deflated tires to keep vehicles from being used in attacks, and so we could tow the vehicles later for collection of evidence if necessary," Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesman Bruce Gordon said in a statement to NPR.

The Star Tribune first reported the agency's confirmation, following up on widely seen videos that showed uniformed officers jabbing knives into car tires.

Gordon cited several reasons for the disabling of cars and trucks, including incidents in which vehicles were "driving dangerously and at high speeds in and around protesters and law enforcement."

"While not a typical tactic, vehicles were being used as dangerous weapons and inhibited our ability to clear areas and keep areas safe where violent protests were occurring," he said.

Gordon also said some vehicles "contained items used to cause harm during violent protests (rocks, concrete, sticks, etc.)." And he added that in one case, an unoccupied vehicle had been pushed toward police.

Videos of the police actions have gone viral online. They were recently compiled by Mother Jones , which noted that the incidents happened in at least two spots: a Kmart parking lot and a highway overpass.

"Both areas briefly turned into police staging grounds near protest hot spots," the magazine reported.

Gordon told the Star Tribune that "there will be a review about how these decisions were made."

The incidents occurred in the late hours of May 30 and 31 — the first weekend in which outrage over Floyd's death sparked large protests in Minneapolis and many other U.S. cities.

Dozens of cars were hobbled in the Kmart lot. That's where video producer Andrew Kimmel returned to his rental car in the middle of the night to find its tires were slashed.

Sharing a video of the scene on Twitter, Kimmel said police had cut every tire on his car "as well as every tire of every car in this parking lot."

"Police took over this entire area shortly after the protests began and haven't left until just now," Kimmel said in a tweet, after he was asked how he knew the police had cut the tires. He added, "Protesters would not be able to get back into this lot. National Guard stopped me, but let me back in after showing my press badge."

While protesters had initially planned to use the area as a makeshift medical center, many of the disabled cars belonged to journalists. A car belonging to a Star Tribune reporter was among those targeted. The lot also held at least four CNN vehicles, Kimmel said, citing a tow truck driver with whom he spoke the next day.

Staff from Radio Canada and The New Yorker also found their tires had been cut.

"There was an entire row of press vehicles that all had to be towed," Kimmel said.

Reporter Jeff Wagner of local TV station WCCO also noted the flat tires, prompting a witness to share her video showing police cutting the tires of a pickup truck in the Kmart lot.

In addition to the state patrol, the Anoka County Sheriff's Office says its officers also deflated tires, citing orders from a state command center that has been coordinating more than a dozen police agencies.

"The command was given to disable illegally abandoned vehicles via tire deflation" if vehicles were inside law enforcement's perimeter and were obstructing operations.

But in a statement to NPR, the sheriff's office says its personnel weren't involved in the activity at the Kmart. The office says its employees were only involved in disabling two vehicles on May 31 that it says were "illegally abandoned" on a bridge passing over I-35 West.

"This procedure was done in order to preserve order, life, and safety of both the protestors and law enforcement that were present at this location," the sheriff's office says.

In its initial report about the May 30 incident at the Kmart, the Minnesota Multi-Agency Command Center said thousands of state and local police officers, as well as the state National Guard, had "changed tactics and strategies to take a different approach on how to keep the peace following the death of George Floyd."

The new strategy relied on intelligence about possible looting or rioting, to send "fast-moving teams to targets that were of high value and high probability of attack."

The command center's report described how police forces were prepositioned near likely trouble spots. It did not mention the tactic of disabling vehicles.

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