Did White Supremacists Shoot BLM Protesters?

Racial tensions in Minneapolis flared up Monday night when three men shot at a Black Lives Matter demonstration, hitting and wounding five protesters. Police are currently searching for the three suspects, whom they have confirmed are white. It's claimed that the gunmen were white supremacists, whom Black Lives Matter say have frequently disrupted demonstrations in Minneapolis since they began on Nov. 15, when unarmed black man Jamar Clark was shot by police. As authorities continue to piece together the incident, the first question they'll want to answer will be: were the Black Lives Matter shooters white supremacists?

According to accounts from several protesters, three men in masks showed up to disrupt the demonstration and when a group of protesters tried to lead them away from the scene, the suspects opened fire on them. One witness, Jie Wronski-Riley, told NBC News that the three men started "yelling and being aggressive and it was obvious they were here to antagonize and confront people."

Following the incident, Black Lives Matter Minneapolis posted about it on its official Facebook page:

Tonight, white supremacists attacked the #‎4thPrecinctShutDown in an act of domestic terrorism. We need you here tomorrow. We wont be intimidated. Students are walking out.

Other protesters also called the suspects "white supremacists" when describing the shooting. Miski Noor, a spokesperson for Black Lives Matter, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

A group of white supremacists showed up at the protest, as they have done most nights.

So what gives them the conviction that the suspects are white supremacists? The Black Lives Matter protesters may have received warning from the people themselves:Last week, according to a report from the City Pages newspaper, two men in camouflage and face masks showed up at the protests and were interviewed by a livestreamer. One of the men told the livestreamer:

I don't know if this is what [protesters] were planning, just standing here. It's almost as if they expect one of us to do something. They expect one of us to be in the wreckage of all this. It's boiling. It's going to be happening soon.

When asked what the demonstrations meant to them, one of them answered:

All the folks here should get the justice and peace that they deserve. What we need to do is reach out to our communities, especially our melanin-enriched communities.

The following day, a video emerged showing the two men en route to the 4th precinct, where the demonstrations were taking place, brandishing guns and telling the camera:

We're gonna go see what these fucking dindus are up to. ... We're going to knock this shit out ... a little reverse-cultural enriching. We're gonna make the fire rise.

In response to the video, the Minneapolis Police Department issued the following statement last Friday:

The Minneapolis Police Department has received information that a group may attempt to cause a disturbance this evening in front of the Police Department's 4th Precinct. We are asking gathered demonstrators to be vigilant and report any actions that may seem out of the ordinary. If anyone notices something suspicious, please contact a nearby officer or call 9-1-1.

Police have yet to confirm as they continue to investigate. Luckily, the five men who were shot did not sustain life-threatening injuries, and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations remain undaunted as protesters prepare to hold a #Justice4Jamar march on Tuesday.