"Mini-riot" in downtown Minneapolis caught on tape [VIDEO]
By Mike Mullen
Mon., Sep. 12 2011 at 7:39 AM Categories: Crime
A crowd of hundreds walked and fought its way down Nicollet Mall Saturday night.
A series of fights broke out after a teen dance party in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday night, causing wild scenes on busy streets, and leading to the arrests of three participants.
Early news reports called the action a "riot," but that term has since been downgraded to "mini-riot." The trouble started as hundreds of teenagers poured out of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, which was hosting the "Big Bash 2" dance party. During the party, kids had scuffled with event security, leading to a police call, an early end to the party, and an exodus of riled-up kids.
As a large crowd moved down Nicollet Mall, it tossed restaurant furniture and confronted bystanders, according to the Star Tribune.
More troublesome, though, were the fights that took place within the group, one of which was caught on tape.
The video, captured and uploaded by someone who says he was having his bachelor party at the Local, shows a slew of young people walking down the street. A couple of them begin to have words, and some scatter, before a dozen or so get into brief brawl with punches and chairs thrown.
The fighting ends soon enough, and the crowd simply moves on farther down the block, increasing its speed as cops arrive.
Later, when the crowd stalled at South 10th Street and Nicollet, police responded with riot gear and pepper spray, and arrested three "mini-riot" participants, one of whom had punched a cop, the Star Tribune reports.
The lesson, apparently, is that you should always wear goggles to teen dance parties: Party promoter Brayshaun Gibson, 19, says police used pepper spray to disperse the first Big Bash party in April.
