MN Mayor: All the Protesters We Arrested Were From Out of State (VIDEO)

Melvin Carter, the Democratic mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, is reporting that all of the protesters arrested in his city have been out-of-state agitators. Video of his comments are included below.

Mayor Carter made the comments Saturday morning during a press conference detailing the protests and riots that broke out in response to the death of George Floyd in nearby Minneapolis at the hands of police officers.

Because St. Paul had issued a curfew Friday night, very few protesters were on the streets, and arrests were lower than what was seen in other cities were riots overtook many areas.

Regardless, Mayor Carter said that those who were arrested were all from out-of-state, making clear that those seeking to create chaos are not locals truly protesting the misconduct of the officers that led to Floyd's death.

“Because we had a relative stillness in St. Paul, we didn’t make an enormous number of arrests," Mayor Carter said, "But every single person we arrested last night, I’m told, was from out of state. What we are seeing right now is a group of people who are not from here,” Carter said at a press conference.

Carter made it clear he does not equate the peaceful protesters with the rioters and looters who seek only to destroy and steal.

“As I talk to my friends who have been in this movement for a very long time, who wake up in this movement every day, and I ask them what they’re seeing, what they’re feeling, what they’re hearing, to a person," he said. "I hear them say, ‘We don’t know these folks. We don’t know these folks who are agitating. We don’t know these folks who are inciting violence. We don’t know these folks who are first in to break a window.’”

George Floyd's death, which was caught on video, caused outrage after a police officer placed his knee on his neck for several minutes. Floyd, who was unarmed and offering no resistance, said he couldn't breathe and later died.

An autopsy revealed the officer's treatment triggered a heart condition that caused Floyd's death.

In nearby Minneapolis, 50 people were arrested Friday after a curfew was announced.

Out-of-town agitators are not an isolated instance. In New York City, 200 people were arrested, with more than 40 of those turning out to be from outside the city.

Here is video of the press conference in which Mayor Carter made his remarks. His specific statement about the out-of-state protesters comes at the 5:30 mark.

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