A number of Reporters that were covering the protests in Minneapolis, returned to their cars to find that the tires had been slashed.

Now, before you go pinning this on the protestors, it was done by the cops.

What’s their excuse for doing it?

"State Patrol troopers strategically deflated tires ... in order to stop behaviors such as vehicles driving dangerously and at high speeds in and around protesters and law enforcement," Minnesota Department of Safety spokesman Bruce Gordon told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

He did say it's "not a typical tactic," adding that troopers also targeted cars "that contained items used to cause harm during violent protests," like rocks and sticks. Several journalists were among those who returned from protests to find their tires slashed.

New Yorker writer Luke Mogelson told Mother Jones that when he returned to find his tires slashed, officers — some of whom had told him they would watch his car — "were laughing" and "had grins on their faces." Gordon said there would be an investigation of how various protest decisions were made.

Some insurance companies want a police report on the vandalism, before taking the claim. But, it was the cops that were the vandals.

Good luck with those claims.

H/T The Week