Gloating and death threats inundated a young reporter online after he said he was robbed at gunpoint during the protests roiling Minneapolis on Wednesday night.
Kyle Hooten, 21, who is a reporter with Alpha News MN and a contributor to The Daily Caller, tweeted Wednesday, “Just got robbed at gunpoint in Minneapolis for my bulletproof vest and backpack[.]”
Just got robbed at gunpoint in Minneapolis for my bulletproof vest and backpack
— Kyle Hooten (@KyleHooten2) August 27, 2020
“I was robbed near Nicollet Mall while covering the continued civil unrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota,” Hooten told The Daily Wire, adding, “I’m upset about what happened, but not surprised — crime has seen an unprecedented rise in the city.”
“What is more shocking than the fact I was robbed is the hundreds of hateful messages and death threats I’ve received since the incident,” Hooten continued. “Individuals who profess to belong to the Black Lives Matter movement have sent me photographs of themselves with guns saying they’re looking for my address and will come kill me if they find it. These threats also extend to calls for violence, including murder and sexual assault against my immediate family members.”
As The Daily Caller reported, Hooten said he was walking away from the unrest on Nicollet Mall, where a homicide suspect had killed himself earlier, when two men approached him. Standing in front of and behind him, they allegedly inquired about why he was wearing a bulletproof vest before grabbing both his vest and his backpack. “White boys don’t need a bulletproof vest; you’re not the ones getting shot,” one of them reportedly said as a small crowd gathered.
Hooten provided photographic evidence to The Daily Wire of some of the hateful private messages he received after posting about the incident, some of which featured people brandishing a gun and threatening to kill him. Hooten said that the “unsavory” direct messages he received were “in excess of 300,” and that specific, legally actionable death threats numbered in the dozens.
Interesting… that would qualify as racism, but I’ve been told it’s impossible to be racist against whites pic.twitter.com/N2HaXL7Ztv
— Kyle Hooten (@KyleHooten2) August 27, 2020
Public responses to his viral tweet also mocked him, describing his robbery as “hilarious” and “funny as hell,” among other laudatory things. Actor Tom Arnold also weighed in on the situation, seeming to imply that Hooten was lying in an attempt to get on Fox News.
okay I'll bite…then what happened Mr Daily Caller? Lots of racist black guys…am I right???? You're trying to get back on @marthamaccallum you sly dog you!!!!
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) August 27, 2020
Minneapolis served as the epicenter of the protests that broke out earlier this summer in the wake of George Floyd’s death while in Minneapolis police custody. As The Daily Wire reported, the Minneapolis Police Department sent out an email to residents of the embattled 3rd Precinct on July 28, instructing them to obey criminals if they are robbed.
“Robberies and Carjacking’s [sic] have increased in our Precinct,” the email said in part. “Cell phones, purses, and vehicles are being targeted. Some victims have been maced, dragged, assaulted, and some threatened with a gun. Most of these crimes have occurred north of 42nd St. E. 100 Robberies and 20 Carjackings have been reported to 3rd Precinct Police in July alone. Downtown and Southwest Minneapolis have seen an increase as well. We want those who live and work here to be safe!”
Minneapolis is about to turn into the rape capital of the world. https://t.co/aHLqHGyYyY pic.twitter.com/JiY2Bp5oob
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 2, 2020