Minneapolis Police Reportedly Identify Viral 'Umbrella Man' As White Supremacist

Of course, this is no excuse for other people to do the same.

https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/07/28/896515022/minneapolis-police-reportedly-identify-viral-umbrella-man-as-white-supremacist?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2zLaikG2CB9YaD-FI7ZCyRIq1_KdoCuUkbIppOEbEI1BPzoYcftxJcDBE&fbclid=IwAR0YNKf2dXWvI9HHk5mj_eOS89vYXMWU7Ff9pN1oz8oDLivD3IYb9SBh754

Rachel Treisman Twitter
July 28, 2020

Police say the masked, umbrella-wielding man who smashed windows at a Minneapolis auto parts store two days after George Floyd's death has ties to a white supremacist group and specifically sought to inflame racial tensions.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minneapolis police arson investigator Erika Christensen wrote in a search warrant affidavit filed this week that the man's actions created a hostile atmosphere and sparked a series of events that turned previously peaceful protests chaotic. She said she believed his "sole aim was to incite violence."

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The Star Tribune reported that the man had also spray painted "free (expletive) for everyone zone" on the doors of the store, which was later burned to the ground.

In the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, roughly 500 businesses were damaged or looted, with nearly 70 of them burned to the ground.

"This was the first fire that set off a string of fires and looting throughout the precinct and the rest of the city," Christensen wrote in the affidavit, according to reports. "Until the actions of the person your affiant has been calling 'Umbrella Man,' the protests had been relatively peaceful."

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Multiple news outlets report that police also linked the man to an incident that took place in Stillwater, Minn., in June, when a group of men wearing white supremacist garb allegedly harassed a Muslim woman who was at a malt shop with her 4-year-old daughter.

The reports also say police link "Umbrella Man" and the Stillwater incident with the Aryan Cowboy Brotherhood, a small white supremacist prison and street gang primarily based in Minnesota and Kentucky.