Violence continued in the uptown area of Minneapolis on Wednesday night as roads were blocked overnight and small fires were set in the street.
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Nightly protests have continued for weeks since a U.S. Marshals Service task force shot Winston Smith in a parking ramp. Smith was sitting in an SUV with a date on June 3 when he was fatally shot by deputies who said they were trying to arrest him on a weapons violation.
The tension in the community since then has led to several events being canceled and businesses being forced into a corner.
Most recently, it was announced that the Uptown Art Fair, which was canceled last year due to the pandemic, will not be held this year because of the state of the neighborhood.
The fair tends to bring close to a quarter of a million people to Uptown to enjoy art, shopping, and dining. The cancellation came as there has been an uptick in crime, shortage of police officers, and lack of planning time, according to event organizers.
The fair tends to employ over 300 artists who will now face the economic impact of it being canceled for the second year in a row. For some artists, the event makes them about a quarter of their annual income, according to WCCO.
According to organizers, there will be a digital version of the Uptown Art Fair online and a smaller-scale event in the fall.
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Throughout the night, officers were recorded giving dispersal orders at one point to protestors who gathered in the Minneapolis neighborhood.
One video online appears to show a car driving around with someone in the car shooting a firearm into the air.
Investigators in the death of Smith say that there is evidence of him firing a gun inside his car before undercover deputies in the task force shot him. However, the lawyer for the woman who was present with Smith in the car said she never saw a gun.
Smith was wanted on a warrant for being a felon in possession of a gun.