Alleged Black Lives Matter protest shooter appears in court

Allen Scarsella
Allen Scarsella is accused of shooting Black Lives Matter protesters outside the 4th Precinct.
Hennepin County Sheriff's Office

The 24-year-old man accused of wounding five people at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in north Minneapolis last fall appeared in Hennepin County District Court on Tuesday.

Allen Lance Scarsella of Lakeville did not enter a plea during the brief hearing. Scarsella's attorney Peter Martin asked the court for more time to process "a large volume of material" in preparation for a trial.

Judge Hilary Caligiuri granted Martin's request and set a new hearing for June 13.

Earlier this month, one of the other men accused of participating in the shooting, Nathan Gustavsson, received a similar extension from the court.

Prosecutors say Scarsella, Gustavsson, Daniel Macey and Joseph Martin Backman went to the protest outside the 4th Precinct in north Minneapolis on the night of Nov. 23 to cause trouble at the demonstration. Demonstrators were protesting the fatal police shooting of Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old African-American man, in north Minneapolis on Nov. 15.

The five demonstrators who were shot and wounded are black.

Scarsella, who, according to the charges, has "negative experiences with and opinions about African Americans," is white. He is facing the most serious charges.

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