As Twitchy reported earlier, attorney Benjamin Crump has taken on the case of Tekle Sundberg, who was shot by Minneapolis police after a six-hour standoff, during which Crump said he was “experiencing a mental health crisis.” Crump described Sundberg as a “smart, loving, and artistic 20-year-old” who just happened to be firing bullets into the apartment of a single mother with two kids under 5 years old:
She shared these photos of her apartment with us. https://t.co/hbIwTolUwv pic.twitter.com/NqSXbroxd2
— Mary McGuire (@mcguirereports) July 16, 2022
Townhall’s Julio Rosas was on the scene and talked with sources within the Minneapolis Police Department:
The family of Tekle Sundberg say Minn. police did not try to deescalate during the hours long standoff before shooting him.
MPD sources, who were at the scene, tell me that's not true and it was Sundberg who refused to engage with officers and his Dad: https://t.co/g319KoskjD
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 18, 2022
Two MPD sources said whenever they tried to call him or talk to him via a PA system, Sundberg would turn up the volume on music to drown out their voices. One time when he did pick up the phone, "he sounded incoherent and was constantly yelling." https://t.co/g319KoskjD
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 18, 2022
Sundberg's Dad, who used the PA system, was upset at not being able to enter the building to talk more directly to Sundberg. A source said that was a bad idea bc Sundberg had been blindly shooting through walls and doors. Also could've turned into a hostage situation.
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 18, 2022
We'll get a clearer picture on the event once body camera footage is released but that will take some time since there's hundreds of hours of video to shift through.
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 18, 2022
What do they think the police were doing for all that time rather than just storming him and getting it over with?
— Donna Darnell (@DonnaDarnell20) July 18, 2022
“hours long standoff” should be the first clue.
— James Lingk (@RPGuy16) July 18, 2022
The fact that it took hours shows that they tried to deescalate the situation. Otherwise, they would have just showed up and shot him right away.
— Porky Butterman (@PorkyButterman) July 18, 2022
When shots have been fired, deescalation is off the table.
— Ted Pinson (@Tedpinson) July 18, 2022
This account tracks with every piece of reporting I’ve seen on this absolutely clean shoot by MPD
— Daniel Reid (@danielp_reid) July 18, 2022
.
The real victim in this incident, the mother and two kids Tekle tried to murder, said she NEVER saw his friends and family visiting or checking on him despite his overt display for months (on social media) of aberrant and disturbing thoughts.— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) July 18, 2022
I'm not sure how much de-escalation you do with a guy who's shooting through walls into adjoining rooms. Neutralizing the threat should be first priority. If that can be done peacefully, so be it. If not, take the threat to the ground.
— Warren Socheliste (@socheliste) July 18, 2022
They're inciting another mostly peaceful protest.
— KateSottolano🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@Katemarie1960) July 18, 2022
On the plus side, we’re not certain, but it looks like GoFundMe has taken down the fundraiser, “Honoring Tekle and funeral expenses.”
When someone is shooting at someone, the police are justified in returning fire. Nobody is talking about him being a felon and having a gun. What about the posts with multiple guns? He is not a victim.
— odangbob74 (@ODANGBOB74) July 18, 2022
Yeah, bullshit, shooting him deescalated it once and forever. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
— J.D. Farmer (@JDFarmer94583) July 18, 2022