Four men charged over shooting of Black Lives Matter protesters in Minneapolis

Minnesota prosecutors on Monday filed felony charges against four men in connection with the wounding of protesters near a demonstration that has continued outside a Minneapolis police station since the fatal police shooting of a black man.

Allen Scarsella, 23, who prosecutors said in a complaint had admitted to shooting five protesters, was charged with one count of second-degree riot while armed and five counts of second-degree assault.

Joseph Backman, 27; Nathan Gustavsson, 21; and Daniel Macey, 26, were each charged with second-degree riot in the Nov. 23 late night shooting that left five demonstrators with wounds that were not life-threatening.

All four men had been in custody since last week in the shooting near the protest camp that sprung up after the fatal shooting by police of Jamar Clark, 24, two weeks ago.

Hennepin County jail records indicate that Scarsella's bail has been set at $500,000 and the others at $250,000 each. All are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon.

Scarsella, Gustavsson and Backman are white, while Macey is Asian, police said.

The criminal complaint said Scarsella told a friend who is a police officer in another jurisdiction that he had gotten into an altercation and shot protesters.

(Reporting by David Bailey and Kristoffer Tigue in Minneapolis; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)