Minnesota leaders say arrested protesters are not local residents: 'We don't know these folks'

The mayor of St. Paul, the sister city to Minneapolis, announced Saturday that every protester arrested during Friday's riots were from out-of-state.

Speaking at a press conference, Mayor Melvin Carter (D) said out-of-state agitators were responsible for the violent unrest in St. Paul on Friday. Demonstrations erupted in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area this week in response to the tragic death of George Floyd.

"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.

"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, 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,'" Carter added.

St. Paul Mayor: Everyone Arrested Last Night In His City From Out Of Statewww.youtube.com

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) said the majority of those arrested in his city were also not local residents.

"I want to be very, very clear. The people that are doing this are not Minneapolis residents. They are coming in largely from outside of the city, from outside of the region, to prey on everything that we have built over the last several decades," Frey said.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) also said Saturday that only 20% of the protesters who have been arrested are state residents — meaning 80% do not live in The Gopher State.

On Saturday, Walz mobilized the full force of the Minnesota National Guard in response to the widespread violence.