Man who struck police officer with trash can lid charged with assault, riot and burglary

A Minneapolis man was charged with second and third-degree assault for hitting a police officer with a trash can lid, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Brayshaun Gibson, 28, also was charged with one count of second-degree riot and one count of third-degree burglary in the aftermath of rioting in downtown Minneapolis after a false rumor circulated that an African-American man was killed by a police officer.

According to the criminal complaint, in the evening of August 26, a Minneapolis police sergeant was about to climb into his squad car when Gibson threw a 15-pound garbage can lid, striking the sergeant in the head and knocking him unconscious.

Later, Gibson was seen entering a department store through a broken window and merchandise from the store was recovered from his car, the complaint states.

View the criminal complaint against Gibson (PDF).