ESPN hockey analyst records ‘shocking’ whipping in downtown St. Paul

ESPN Kevin Weekes provides analysis of NHL games, but on Thursday he turned his attention to an assault in downtown St. Paul in which a man was whipped several times.

Weekes, who was in town for the Wild’s season finale at the Xcel Energy Center, recorded the assault on his cellphone from his hotel room on the 16th floor of the InterContinental Riverfront.

“Well, we have a situation here in Minnesota,” Weekes says in a 2-minute video he posted to the social media app X, formerly Twitter, just after 1:30 p.m. “Breaking News Not Hockey,” the message read. , which has been viewed more than 1.3 million times as of Friday evening.

In the video, one man is seen hitting the other man several times with the whip along the Kellogg Mall Park at Kellogg Boulevard and Wabasha Street. The victim tries to dodge the whips while screaming for help.

After being whipped a third time, Weekes notices that no one is helping him.

“I’m in the room. I’m on the 16th floor,” he said. “There’s not much I can do. That guy in the white shirt…those aren’t nunchucks, they’re a whip! Condemn!”

The video shows the man with the whip grabbing his bike before returning and continuing the assault.

” He returns ! » said Weekes. “Condemn! This is crazy!”

After the final “whipping,” as Weekes describes it, the man with the whip rides away on his bicycle. Weekes then asks, “What happened to Minnesota Nice?” Wow!”

The video ends with the victim slumped over while sitting on the edge of a concrete planter. “Oh man,” Weekes said, zooming in on him.

St. Paul police spokeswoman Alyssa Arcand said Friday that officers were dispatched to the area shortly before 1:30 p.m. on a report of two men fighting, calling 911 reporting that a man was being whipped. The suspect was missing when officers arrived and the victim was uncooperative, Arcand said.

Police are aware of Weekes’ video and are “sharing the description of the suspect with our officers,” Arcand said.

“While this is a shocking and unusual incident for St. Paul, it is an isolated incident that we are actively investigating,” she said. “We encourage anyone with information about this incident to contact us at 651-291-1111.”

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