Around 6:00 p.m., police fired rubber bullets and chemical irritants near Hiawatha Avenue and Lake Street while protesters were breaking windows at the police precinct.[9] In the early evening, a white man wearing black protective gear and a face mask respirator, and holding an umbrella, walked casually up to the Autozone next to the police department and smashed the windows of the building with a hammer as passersby told him to stop.[10] There was speculation that the man was an agent provocateur trying to introduce vandalism into a peaceful protest.[11] Social media users claimed the man holding an umbrella was an undercover Saint Paul Police officer; the Saint Paul Police Department issued a statement via Twitter denying the claims.[12][13]