The events began as a reaction to the suicide of Eddie Sole Jr., a 38-year old black man who was being pursued by Minneapolis police officers for his alleged involvement in a homicide.

[2] To quell unrest, Minneapolis police released closed-circuit television surveillance footage that captured Sole's suicide,[3] which was later confirmed by a Hennepin County Medical Examiner's autopsy report.

[2] On the night of August 26, 2020, at least 132 people were arrested for violence and looting,[13] as damage to 77 properties occurred in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan region,[4][8] including five buildings that were set on fire.

Protesters reacting to news of a new shooting death, that video later showed was a suicide, did not trust initial police accounts of the incident.

[26] The August 23, 2020, shooting of Jacob Blake, an African American man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, by a police officer, led to protests and unrest that spilled into Minnesota.

[28] By August 2020, the downtown workforce in Minneapolis was at 85% of prior capacity, with many business closed and implementing remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and with fewer people on the street there were concerns about the perceptions of crime and lack of police presence.

[29] Eddie George Gordon, a 61-year-old from Rush City, Minnesota, died from multiple gunshot wounds while inside a parking ramp near 10th Street North and Currie Avenue West at 2 p.m. on August 26, 2020, in downtown Minneapolis.

[33] In public statements, police denied that they had fired weapons at Sole Jr. during pursuit and released a surveillance video of his suicide to quell rumors that it was an officer involved shooting.

[33] Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo sent text messages to several racial justice advocates seeking help in circulating the video,[34] such as to Nekima Levy Armstrong who attempted to contain the spread of false information.

[35] However, some in the crowd downtown began breaking windows at nearby businesses, resulting in property destruction and looting at many stores and restaurants.

[36] As the scene downtown became more violent, some in the crowd urged others stop the destruction, including a person on a megaphone who shouted, "We have the video — the man killed himself!

[38] The rioting in downtown Minneapolis mostly stretched along Nicollet Mall from 5th to 12th streets, though it spread to a gas station and liquor store near Loring Park.

[9] On August 28, 2020, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office identified the person who shot themselves as Eddie Sole Jr., a 38-year old black man from Minneapolis.

[46] The south Minneapolis area had also been at the epicenter of heavy rioting after Floyd's murder in late May 2020, including where a police station was torched.

[45] Officials believed that their experience with the unrest in the days after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 led to a speedier response during the August 2020 events that distinguished people protesting peacefully and those causing destruction.

[12] Kam Talebi, owner of the downtown Brit's Pub, remarked on August 27, 2020, about broader conversations to address the unrest in Minneapolis, "I hope within that there's a priority of safety for residents and the businesses.

[50] In 2022, Wild Greg's Saloon restaurant in downtown closed and cited the riots in 2020 as one of several factors negatively affecting business activity.

[12] The non-profit organization Agate Housing and Services announced in late 2022 a $25 million redevelopment project to convert the former China Wok restaurant property on the 2800 block of 27th Avenue South in Minneapolis into a homeless shelter and group home.

[38][51] State and local officials arrested at least 132 people during the unrest that featured looting, reports of shots fired, thrown bottles at police, and the discharge of commercial grade fireworks.

Both men had connections to the Salvation Army's Harbor Light Center homeless shelter next door to the parking garage, with Gordon making occasional night stays since 2017 and Sole Jr. calling it his home for the past two-and-a-half years.

[52] Three men from the Twin Cities metropolitan area were indicted in United States district court for setting fires at the downtown headquarters of the Target Corporation on the evening of August 26, 2020.

Jackson intentionally set a fire on a counter in the mailroom and Victor D. Edwards, a 31-year old from Saint Paul, Minnesota, added liquid accelerant to it.

Authorities alleged that Edwards had illegally entered and looted several downtown businesses and participated in acts of arson at the Target Corporation and possibly at Brit's Pub.

[21] Surveillance had video captured him attempting to set fire to a pile of cardboard inside the Target Corporation building until he was interrupted by another person.

[58] Brayshaun Gibson, a 28-year-old man from Minneapolis, was charged for burglary and for assaulting a police officer by throwing a 15-pound metal garbage can lid and knocking him unconscious on August 26.

Gibson said that he was eating at downtown restaurant and became angry when learning of the rumors of a possible police shooting, and he regretted being involved in the ensuing chaos.