This archive report was first published on 15 June 2020.
Published on June 15, 2020, a news release from the St. Cloud Police Department attempted to quell the growing unrest in the city after a rumor of a fatal police shooting spread like wildfire on social media.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident began early Monday morning when two officers responded to reports of a person with a firearm outside a local business. The officers confronted the individual, an 18-year-old black man, who tried to flee and in the ensuing struggle, shot one of the officers in the hand.
Both the officer and the young man were taken to the hospital, with the latter suffering minor injuries, according to Police Chief William Blair Anderson. However, rumors quickly spread on social media that the encounter had ended in a fatal shooting, with many claiming that a black teenager had been killed by the police.
As the news of the alleged shooting spread, a crowd of around 100 people gathered and began marching towards the police station. Chief Anderson later revealed that the crowd was acting on misinformation, bad information, or outright lies, and that officers used tear gas to disperse the group.
Despite the efforts of the police to contain the situation, several buildings, including the police station, were damaged, and four people were arrested on minor charges. The mayor, Dave Kleis, and Chief Anderson held a news conference to address the situation, with the mayor describing the misinformation on social media as 'dangerous'.
