About 50 people have been arrested as protests continue throughout Minneapolis.
More than 2,500 agents are helping to maintain peace, Minnesota Public Security Commissioner John Harrington said at a press conference.
This is one of the largest civilian police forces the state of Minnesota has ever seen, he said. But resources are still limited, with thousands of estimated demonstrators across the city.
“We recognized that we simply did not have, even with the numbers I am talking about, enough officers and personnel to fulfill all those missions safely and successfully. We chose the missions based on our ability,” said Harrington.
The officers concentrated their efforts on the center and fifth area of Precinct, he said.
A request was made to substantially increase the number of National Guard officers available to reinforce the city’s response, Harrington said.
Minnesota National Guard Major General Jon Jensen said he believed there could be more than 1,700 National Guard soldiers in the area.
This would be the largest deployment in the state of Minnesota history.
“Tomorrow’s conclusion, I believe we will have over 1,700 soldiers supporting the Public Security Department in the city of Minneapolis and the city of Saint Paul,” said Jensen.
Jensen noted that people may have heard that President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to warn U.S. Army units for a possible operation in Minneapolis.
“Although we have not been consulted on this, I believe it is a prudent move to provide other options available to the governor if the governor chooses to use those resources,” said Jensen.
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