Tensions high as Minneapolis cops move to break up precinct protest
Updated 3:20 p.m. | Posted 2:01 p.m.
Minneapolis police Wednesday afternoon moved to retake the entrance into the 4th precinct station from protesters.
Tensions are high and the group Black Lives Matter is calling its supporters down to the scene.
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Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds told those gathered that the protest is "going down in a non-violent peaceful manner."
Police says protesters were blocking access to the precinct. Officers are moving cases of bottled water and pallets to open a side door to the precinct.
Protesters are surrounding the building now on all sides.
Police Sgt. Steve Mosey says one person was issued a citation for throwing a water bottle, no arrests so far.
Mosey said Minneapolis residents needed to be able to access the building.
"We got calls and complaints from citizens saying they couldn't come into our precinct to file a crime report or to do anything, they weren't allowed to get in, the people in the vestibule were blocking them," he said. "So the chief made a decision that we needed to be able to open the precinct up."
The entrance has been occupied by Black Lives Matter demonstrators since Sunday after an officer-involved police shooting killed Jamar Clark, 24.
More than 200 people are at the Fourth Precinct chanting "Jamar Clark Matters."