Suspects getting increasingly violent with cops in Twin Cities, other areas

Police have endured a wave of assaults from criminal suspects in recent weeks, with at least seven violent encounters occurring in a 15-hour span last weekend across the Twin Cities and many more incidents elsewhere in Minnesota this month.

Law enforcement agencies say that in 18 assaults in the state since May 5 their officers have been hit with objects, bitten, spat upon, kicked, put in a headlock, Maced, scratched and bruised by defiant suspects, some of whom are backing up their actions with verbal threats of serious injury or death.

One leading advocate for peace officers across the state sees a connection between the conviction of fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin last month in the death of George Floyd, a killing the world saw unfold in a bystander's viral video.

https://www.startribune.com/suspects-getting-increasingly-violent-with-cops-in-twin-cities-other-areas/600059086/