FROM MINNESOTA'S MOST
WATCHED STATION, WCCO 4 NEWS
STARTS NOW WITH BREAKING NEWS.
WE ARE CONTINUING TO FOLLOW
BREAKING NEWS IN MINNEAPOLIS
HERE ON MIDMORNING.
I'M HEATHER BROWN.
AND I'M JASON DA RUSSIA.
PROTESTS STARTED PEACEFULLY
AND GOING OUT OF CONTROL.
MULTIPLE FIRES RAGING IN SOUTH
MINNEAPOLIS.
THE OUTRAGE COMES AFTER AND
OVER THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD
ON MONDAY NIGHT AFTER HE WAS
PINNED BY THE NECK BY A
MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICER.
THE AREA THAT'S BEEN THE FOCUS
OF THE PROTESTS AND THE FOCUS
OF THE VIOLENCE AND DESTRUCTION
OVERNIGHT.
A FIRE CONTINUING TO SMOLDER.
YOU SEE FIREFIGHTERS THROWING
WATER FROM HIGH UP IN THE AIR
ON SOME OF THE FIRES THAT ARE
BURNING.
THIS AN INDUSTRIAL BUILDING
NEAR MINNEHAHA AND LAKE.
AND WE HAVE SEEN INDUSTRIAL
BUILDINGS, FACTORIES,
RESTAURANTS, ALL SORTS OF
BUILDINGS IN THAT AREA ON FIRE
IN THE OVERNIGHT AND EARLY
MORNING HOURS.
WE HAVE A LIVE REPORT.
Reporter: ONE OF THE IMAGES
THAT HAS STUCK WITH SO MANY OF
YOU THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE
NIGHT IS THE APARTMENT COMPLEX
THAT WAS ON FIRE.
THIS IS THAT APARTMENT COMPLEX.
IT WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, FROM
WHAT WE UNDERSTAND, AFFORDABLE
HOUSING, THERE ARE STILL HOT
SPOTS AND PLENTY OF SMOKE.
AND THE FIREFIGHTERS ARE
WORKING AGGRESSIVELY TO PUT THE
FIRE OUT.
THIS IS SO UNFATHOMABLE TO SEE
THIS BUT IT'S ONE OF OTHER
IMAGES THAT WE'VE FOLLOWED
THROUGHOUT THE MORNING.
FROM MILES AWAY THE CHAOS AND
DESTRUCTION IN SOUTH
MINNEAPOLIS WAS EVIDENT ALL
NIGHT.
IT'S MUCH CLEARER AS YOU ARRIVE
NEAR THE THIRD PRECINCT.
THE SHOUTS OF PROTESTERS
HAVE MOSTLY GIVEN WAY TO
BUZZERS FROM STORES.
A STORE BURNS WITH NO ONE TO
PUT IT OUT.
AND A LINE OF POLICE OFFICERS
PROTECT FIREFIGHTERS BATTLING A
FIRE AT AN APARTMENT BUILDING
UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
THE CLICHE OF A WAR ZONE RINGS
TRUE.
THE AUTO ZONE SET ON FIRE EARLY
IN THE CHAOS HAS COLLAPSED NOW
A PILE OF RUBBLE.
THAT METRO PCS STORE IS BURNING
AND TAKING NEARBY POWER LINES
AS THE SUN RISES THROUGH THE
HAZY SMOKE.
A COMMUNITY WAKES UP IN SHOCK.
Reporter: SHOCK IS ONE WORD
THAT RINGS TRUE FOR SO MANY
PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME TO SEE IT
FOR THEMSELVES OR LOOK AT THE
BUSINESSES THEY OWN OR THE
HOMES THEY LIVE IN.
AND THIS IS A STORY WE'LL
FOLLOW THROUGHOUT THE REST OF
THE DAY.
CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE FOR
HOW THINGS ARE DIFFERENT IF
THEY ARE RIGHT IN AND OUT AT 9:
ZERO THREE AS COMPARED TO 6:00
WHEN YOU WERE OUT THERE THIS
MORNING.
IT FEELS ALMOST LIKE A
LITTLE BIT OF A PARALLEL
UNIVERSE.
WE'RE SEEING SOME FIRE GETTING
PUT OUT IN THE FIRE BEHIND ME
WITH THE WATER HITTING THAT
REALLY, REALLY HOT SPOT.
THAT'S SOME OF THE NOISE YOU'RE
HEARING.
WE SAW ACTIVE FIRES AND NOW A
LOT MORE OF THE EFFORTS TO
CONTAIN, TO PUT STUFF OUT AS
THE PROTESTS, THE RIOTERS HAVE
CLEARED THE AREA.
AND THE PEOPLE ARE STANDING
AROUND IN DISBELIEF.
I WANT TO MAKE A
DISTINCTION.
THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAD NO
INTENTION OF DOING ANYTHING
OTHER THAN HAVING THEIR VOICES
HEARD.
A DIFFERENT GROUP OF PEOPLE
DOING CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES.
CERTAINLY IT'S WHAT CAUSED THE
VANDALISM.
ARE ANY FOLKS STILL MILLING
ABILITY, PROTESTERS OR PEOPLE
WHO APPEAR TO BE LOOKING FOR
TROUBLE.
Reporter: NOT THAT I'VE SEEN
IN THE PAST FEW HOURS.
AND WITHIN THE PAST FEW
MINUTES, I SAW A TWEET FROM AN
ATTORNEY REPRESENTING THE
FAMILY OF GEORGE FLOYD.
A SLEW OF TWEETS THAT YOU CAN
READ ON YOUR OWN.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS HE SAYS
IS THAT THE FAMILY IS CALLING
FOR PEACE AT THIS TIME.
HE ALSO SAYS THAT THE BLACK
COMMUNITY WANTS PEACE IN THEIR
SOULS.
THAT'S THE DELICATE BALANCE
WE'RE TRYING TO GET A SENSE OF.
WE HEARD ONE COMMUNITY
FIRES WERE BURNING AT
SEVERAL BUILDINGS AND ALL OF
THIS IN THE AFTERMATH OF MONDAY
USE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD.
CHRISTIANE CORDERO JOINS US
LIVE.
I KNOW YOU'RE WEARING YOUR
MASK.
BUT WITH ALL OF THE FIRES, I
IMAGINE IT'S STILL QUITE SMOKY
OUT THERE.
Reporter: THE SMOKE HAS
LINGERED ALL MORNING LONG,
HEATHER.
ALL OF YESTERDAY.
I WAS COVERING PEACEFUL
PROTESTS ON CHICAGO AND 38th
AVENUE SOUTH.
AND THAT WAS, THERE WERE SO
MANY POWERFUL MESSAGES AND SO
MANY IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS.
THE RIOTERS WHO FOCUS HERE
AROUND THE THIRD PRECINCT ARE
THE OUTLIERS, AND AS YOU LOOK
AT THE DEVASTATION, IT'S SO
SHOCKING.
THIS WAS AN AUTO ZONE.
THIS IS GOOD SIDE.
THE OTHER SIDE IS PRETTY MUCH
ON THE GROUND.
LEVELED AND JUST A PILE OF
RUBBLE.
AND THEN AS YOU MENTIONED THE
MASK, IT'S ALMOST UNFATHOMABLE
THAT WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A
PANDEMIC.
AND THAT MATTERS BECAUSE THERE
ARE SO MANY BUSINESSES THAT
HAVE BEEN VAPID LIESED AND
LOOTED AND ARE SCARED.
AND I'VE SPOKEN WITH A LOT OF
PEOPLE WHO ARE SCARED.
THIS WAS NEVER A GOOD TIME TO
BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS VERY
DISRUPTIVE CONVERSATION.
AND THE IDEA OF COURSE IS THAT
IT WOULD TURN INTO A PRODUCTIVE
CONVERSATION.
BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC
NONETHELESS.
THIS IS SOME OF THE DEVASTATION
THAT WE'VE SEEN.
THIS IS ONE INTERSECTION OF
SEVEN OR EIGHT THAT WE'VE BEEN
TO THAT HAS IMAGES SIMILAR TO
WHAT YOU SEE RIGHT HERE.
I'VE SPOKEN WITH MANY PEOPLE.
ONE IS A WOMAN WHO I TALKED
WITH MAYBE AROUND 6 A.M.
WHO WAS WATCHING IT HAPPEN AND
ALSO JUST PUTTING IT INTO
CONTEXT OF THE GREATER MESSAGE
HERE.
AND FIRST YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR
FROM A GENTLEMAN WHO ACTUALLY
LIVES RIGHT ACROSS THE WAY,
MAYBE ABOUT 20 YARDS FROM THE
APARTMENT COMPLEX THAT'S UNDER
CONSTRUCTION THAT WAS ON FIRE
THROUGH MUCH OF THE NIGHT.
YOU'VE SEEN THE IMAGES, RIGHT?
HE LIVES RIGHT THERE.
AND HE HAD TO EVACUATE BECAUSE
IT GOT VERY HOT.
IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
IF THEY WANT JUSTICE FOR
WHATEVER IS GOING ON, THEY GOT
TO, THIS CAN'T HAPPEN.
WE HAVE TO STICK TO WHAT WE
NEED TO DO TO TAKE CARE OF
WHATEVER NEEDS TO BE TAKEN CARE
OF.
THIS KIND OF STUFF CAN'T
HAPPEN.
THIS IS A LONG TIME IN THE
MAKING.
THE SITUATION HAS BEEN
COMBUSTIBLE FOR QUITE A WHILE.
AND CITY LEADERS HAVE HAD A
LONG TIME.
NOVEMBER 2015.
THEY'VE HAD ALL THAT TIME TO
CLEAN UP THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
WE SEE NOW A HUGE SYMBOL OF THE
FRUSTRATION THAT MANY PEOPLE
HAVE WITH OUR POLICE
DEPARTMENT.
RIGHT NOW MOST OF WHAT WE
SEE ARE CITY OFFICIALS OF SOME
SORT WHETHER IT'S FIRE OR
PUBLIC WORKS TRYING TO CLEAN UP
THE STREETS IN SOUTH
MINNEAPOLIS.
AND WE'LL EXPLORE THE AREA AND
SEE WHAT ELSE WE CAN FIND.
AS SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS MAKE
THEIR WAY TO THE SHOPS THIS
MORNING, THEY'LL HAVE A LOT
MORE TO DEAL WITH INDIVIDUALLY.
WE'LL TALK WITH THEM.
MANY OF THE SMALL BUSINESSES
HAVE BEEN CLOSED FOR THREE
MONTHS ALREADY AND COME BACK
WONDERING IF THEY WOULD BE ABLE
TO REOPEN AND COMING BACK TO
THIS AND THINKING NOW THAT MAY
NOT BE AN OPPORTUNITY.