Twin Cities Will Remain Under Curfew Another Night

St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - It appears the Twin Cities will remain locked down tonight.

Governor Tim Walz today announced a night-time curfew will, again, be enforced from 8 PM Sunday until 6 AM Monday. It's expected that some of the most traveled freeways in the Twin Cities will also be shut down tonight to discourage agitators from other areas from traveling to Minneapolis and St. Paul to engage in rioting.

The third consecutive night with curfew restrictions followed a massive coordinated law enforcement mission to halt rioting involving police from the state's largest cities, the State Patrol, the National Guard, and other first responders. Governor Walz described it as the most complex enforcement operation in state history. He says it was conducted successfully with no loss of life and only minimal property damage.

State officials say there were over 150 arrests overnight. 7 firearms were seized, including an AR-15 rifle.

Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington says, with major infrastructure secured by National Guard troops, law officers were able to keep rioters on the move and made arrests at every opportunity. Harrington says many of the arrests were for weapons violations. He also noted there were incidents involving vehicles without license plates, with no lights on darkened windows that were stopped and found loaded with rocks and other weapons. Harrington also highlighted the arrests of 2 people and the confiscation of an AR-15 rifle after an officer was shot at.

Harrington says about 20-percent of the people arrested Saturday came from other states. The Governor also shared that the state's computer networks were targeted by a cyber-attack.

Governor Walz stressed the law enforcement operation successfully restored calm and created an environment to work on the systemic problems that create the inequities that have Minnesota ranked near the top in the nation for many measures of quality of life for white citizens and near the bottom for African Americans and many other minorities. He called on all Minnesotans to work on fixing those problems and deliver justice for George Floyd.

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