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White Minnesota man assaults cop with hammer in viral video, Internet asks why he wasn't shot like Daunte Wright

The suspect Luke Alvin Oeltjenbruns, White male, 61, allegedly dragged an officer, whose arm was trapped in his truck window. The officer used his rescue hammer to break the window to free his own arm, but the suspect wrenched the hammer away and began striking the officer in the head with it.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA:  Hutchinson police arrested a White man on Wednesday, April 14, after he allegedly trapped a police officer's arm in his truck window while attempting to flee, and then attacked him with the officer's own rescue hammer. Hutchinson is a city about 60 miles west of Minneapolis. 

A video of the incident has since gone viral and people are making comparisons with how things played out for George Floyd and Daunte Wright. A Twitter user shared the video, saying: “This happened yesterday in Minnesota, the suspect was a 61-year-old white man fleeing police. He wasn't shot or tased.”

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Luke Alvin Oeltjenbruns fled, assauted cop

As per Hutchinson police, 61-year-old White male Luke Alvin Oeltjenbruns allegedly dragged an officer with his vehicle while simultaneously striking him with a hammer following a dispute about face masks at a Menards store -- a chain of home improvement stores located in the Midwestern United States.

Police were called to the store just before 2 pm on April 14 after an employee was attacked by Oeltjenbruns with a piece of lumber. This meant that Oeltjenbruns had already assaulted someone and had proved himself to be a danger to people around him. After he left the store, he was soon spotted by an officer in the parking lot of a nearby Walmart.

Oeltjenbruns, according to the police report, led officer Steven Sickmann on a slow-speed chase that ended near the Hutchinson Mall off Highway 15 and Fremont Avenue Southwest. After the officer approached the car at the driver's side window, Oeltjenbruns rolled up the window, trapping the officer's arm. He then sped off -- with speeds reaching up to 40 mph -- with the officer hanging on for dear life. 

The officer used his rescue hammer to break the window to free his own arm, but the suspect wrenched the hammer away and began striking the officer in the head with it. The officer is reportedly in a stable condition at an area hospital. Police later arrested Oeltjenbruns and booked him on first-degree assault. 

Online comparisons with Wright and Floyd

Things are already heated up in Minnesota. Even as Derek Chauvin’s trial for the killing of George Floyd continues, another fatal police shooting has put the state on edge. Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, and an officer she was training, pulled Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, over for an expired registration tag on his car on Sunday, April 11.  

The officers determined during the stop that Wright had an outstanding gross misdemeanor warrant. As the officers tried to take Wright into custody, the 20-year-old got back into his car. Potter then announced that she would use her Taser. "She pulled her Glock 9mm handgun with her right hand and pointed it at Wright, saying again that she would tase him," prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday, April 14. "Potter said 'Taser, Taser, Taser,' and pulled the trigger on her handgun." Potter then said, "S***, I just shot him!" according to prosecutors.

Wright's car sped off, traveling several blocks before crashing into another car. He died at the scene. Protests erupted Sunday night, April 11, prompting Brooklyn Center Schools to close on April 12.

“Wow, imagine that!  They shoot black men for falling asleep at the drive thru and running away on foot, but not a white man who tries to kill them with his truck?” wrote a Twitter user. “Where is the “if he complied” community at on this one? Yal said if Daunte wasn’t running he’d be alive. This white did the same and was apprehended,” wrote another Twitter user. “not so trigger happy when it comes to white folk, eh? Had it been the other way around that cop on the truck would've pulled his gun out SO QUICK. Notice the other cop not even holding a gun to him? They hold a gun to a black dude like FIRST thing. Gross,” said one Twitter user.