VIDEO: When rioters set fire to parts of the Twin Cities last summer, the world was watching.
So were investigators, who were about to take on one of the biggest tasks of their careers.
More than 160 arson investigations are connected to the unrest last May, according to Jeffery Reed, assistant special agent in charge for the ATF’s St. Paul Field division.
“When I saw that from the air, it was likened to a battlefield scene, actual battlefield video footage that I’d seen before,” Reed said. “That’s the immediate analogy that I drew because it looked like missile strikes.”
Reed watched the unrest last May knowing his team would be called to step in.
“It was daunting,” Reed said.
The FBI was also watching from Washington D.C., then the ATF’s national response teams came in from across America.