A Hennepin County jury convicted Allen Scarsella of felony first-degree assault and riot charges Wednesday in the November 2015 shooting of five people at a north Minneapolis protest.
Scarsella, 24, was charged with 12 counts of first-degree assault and one count of riot in connection with the Nov. 23, 2015 protest. Scarsella and three friends went to Minneapolis Police’s Fourth Precinct that night to live stream an ongoing protest after the death of Jamar Clark, who was shot and killed during a scuffle with police. After weeks of testimony followed by closing arguments, the jury began deliberating Thursday morning, and reached the verdict after about seven hours. It was announced before a packed courtroom filled with media, legal observers and victims’ families. After the verdict, the jury left without comment. Scarsella’s defense attorneys also declined comment.
Scarsella, who has been jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail since the shooting, Piabet is scheduled for sentencing March 10.
In a statement, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman lauded the verdict, calling it the best outcome after prosecutors sought the most serious charges they could against Scarsella, and sucessfully argued for his high bail. The office will be seeking the longest sentence possible, he added.
“As I said at the time we charged Mr. Scarsella and his companions, the racist language he used in the videos and on social media is just not acceptable and the actions he took as a result of those racist beliefs were heinous,” Freeman said. “The jury obviously saw it the same way.”
Nekima Levy-Pounds, a civil rights attorney and former Minneapolis NAACP president who was active in the Fourth Precinct occupation and is now a candidate for Mayor of Minneapolis, called hte verdicts a relief, “Especially given our concerns that the racial makeup of the jury did not reflect the diversity of the residents of Hennepin County.”
Although each of the five victims were black, there were no blacks on the mostly white jury.
Minneapolis NAACP president Jason Sole, who was involved in the occupation, said he was “very pleased” with the verdict. “I do feel there should have been stronger charges,” he said. “There was premeditation. He could have been charged with first degree attempted murder. I am hoping the victims can find some kind of closure.”
Video played during the trial showed Scarsella and his friends standing at a fence before they were quickly surrounded by a group of about 20 to 30 protesters. The four fled north up Morgan Avenue, but were followed by a smaller group of about five to seven protesters for about a block. Scarsella testified that he opened fire at the group in self-defense when he saw one of them pull out a weapon.
None of the shooting victims who testified said they saw anyone pull a knife on Scarsella, and that they ran after him after they heard someone from Scarsella’s group shout a racial slur.
The prosecution argued that Scarsella is a racist who went to the protest that night to mock the protesters before he ended up shooting them, while the defense argues that he feared for his life.
Along with Scarsella, Nathan Gustavsson, 22, of Hermantown; Daniel Macey, 27, of Pine City, and Backman, 28, of Eagan stand charged with second-degree riot and aiding an offender. Gustavsson took the stand in Scarsella’s defense on Friday. He declined to comment on the verdicts.
Staff writers Randy Furst, David Chanen and Jessie Bekker contributed to this report.
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