Two men charged with assault during unrest in Minneapolis this weekend

Two men in unrelated incidents have been charged for their respective involvement in the unrest that occurred in Minneapolis this past weekend, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

Robert Ford, a 21-year-old from Minneapolis, was charged May 17 with second and fourth-degree assault for hitting a police officer with a stick.

Christopher Smith, 39, who does not have a known address, was charged May 18 with fourth-degree assault for spraying multiple police officers with mace.

Ford is scheduled to make his first appearance May 18 at 1:30 p.m. and Smith will make his first appearance May 19 at 1:30 p.m.

According to the criminal complaint on Ford, on May 16, officers went to Hennepin Avenue and 5th Street North in Minneapolis for a service call. An ambulance had been requested to transport an injured person from the scene to a nearby hospital.

An officer, I.J., attempted to make way for the ambulance to leave the area by asking people to move. After Ford refused to move, Officer I.J. escorted him away from the ambulance.

Ford, who was holding a stick when Officer I.J. moved him away from the ambulance, took a full swing and hit the officer over the head. Officer I.J. was seen having difficulty standing after he was struck, and went to the hospital for evaluation, the complaint states.

In the criminal complaint for Smith, on May 16 at Hennepin Avenue and 5th Street North in Minneapolis, police were attempting to take a man into custody when Smith sprayed mace on the faces of four officers.

The mace was found to be dripping off some of the officers, with a few of them coughing and having impaired vision.

Smith fled the scene after spraying the mace, and was later apprehended by police. Smith admitted to macing police officers, stating that he would do so again in the future, the complaint says.

View the criminal complaint against Ford (PDF).

View the criminal complaint against Smith (PDF).