A St. Thomas alumnus whom authorities say shot five people at a Minneapolis Black Lives Matter protest Nov. 23 appeared in Hennepin County Court for the first time Tuesday.

Bail was set at $500,000 for Allen Lawrence Scarsella, 23, who is facing six felony charges: one count of second-degree riot and five counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. He did not speak in court. Scarsella’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Greg Scanlan, reserved argument for bail until a later date.

Scarsella was also ordered to have no contact with any of the alleged victims or his three co-defendants.

According to the criminal complaint, Scarsella and three other men arrived at the Black Lives Matter protest at the Minneapolis Police Department’s 4th Precinct. The complaint states that Scarsella shot five men, all African-American, before calling a police officer outside the Twin Cities with whom he is acquainted. Scarsella allegedly admitted to the officer that he had shot five people. All five survived.

The three other men allegedly with Scarsella at the time of the shooting also appeared in Hennepin County Court Tuesday. Attorneys for Daniel Thomas Macey, 26; Nathan Wayne Gustavsson, 21; and Joseph Martin Backmann, 27, denied their clients were racist, though activists claim the shootings were racially motivated, according to the Associated Press.

Scarsella graduated from St. Thomas in spring of 2015.

Grace Pastoor can be reached at past6138@stthomas.edu.