Before firing on Jamar Clark protesters, accused man sent texts about shooting black people

On the morning that he shot into a group of Black Lives Matter protesters wounding five, Allen Scarsella sent a text to his girlfriend saying that black people "should gas themselves, honestly."

The jury saw that and numerous other racist text messages Scarsella sent in the year leading up to the shooting. One said that he preferred the gun he eventually used in the shooting because another one "didn't kill brown people dead enough."

He also noted that it was the same kind of gun used by George Zimmerman when he killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in Sanford, Fla. in 2012. "I guess it's cool that the gun I'm getting has been proven to kill black people in a single shot," he wrote.

Scarsella is standing trial for felony riot and assault charges for shooting into a group of protesters in November 2015 who were protesting the death of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man killed by Minneapolis Police. He argues that he shot in self-defense to protect him and his friends from an angry mob. Five men, all black, were shot.

Prosecutors are arguing that Scarsella and three others went to the protest looking to cause trouble, and the shooting was a result of his deep-seated racism. The defense argued that Scarsella feared for his life and fired in self-defense.

The three others with Scarsella that night, Nathan Gustavsson, 22, of Hermantown; Daniel Macey, 27, of Pine City; and Joseph Backman, 28, of Eagan; stand charged with second-degree riot and aiding an offender.

On Tuesday, a Burnsville police officer attended high school with Scarsella testified that the two exchanged "racially charged texts" that were "negative about black people."

The prosecution is expected to rest its case either later today or Thursday morning.

Brandon Stahl • 612-673-4626