TheeBadOne
Member
Near the end of a three-hour rally against police brutality Wednesday, protesters sealed the day and the Minneapolis Police Department's Fourth Precinct station entrance with a creative act of defiance.
Yellow caution tape, similar to that used by police at crime scenes, was stretched across pillars and formed something of a boundary between the station and the group of about 100 protesters as they chanted against police.
"Be cautious of the Minneapolis Police Department," said Michelle Gross, cofounder of Communities United Against Police Brutality. After the tape was up, she accused the department of being one of the most brutal in the country.
No arrests were made during the three-hour event, which began with more than 50 people at Cottage Park in north Minneapolis, continued with a procession along major streets and concluded with about 100 people gathered outside the precinct station.
It was part of the eighth annual National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality. Rallies were held in about 50 cities across the country.
Gross said that because of two recent police brutality allegations, she expected more people at the march, but that the smaller number doesn't minimize a long-standing problem.
As the protest began, Gross gave a bullhorn to Brenda Jenkins of Minneapolis, who said her 20-year-old son, Philander, an inmate at the Hennepin County jail, was sexually assaulted Oct. 4 by three jail deputies.
Representatives of the Sheriff's Office have been asked not to comment on the case by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), which is handling the investigation to avoid a conflict of interest.
"The whole justice system is corrupt," said Jenkins, 39. "Because it goes beyond my son. It's other people's sons and daughters and mothers and sisters. They don't care about anybody. They are no different from the criminals they are housing themselves."
John Kolstad, 61, of Minneapolis, told the mostly black and young crowd that he does not oppose the police, but that he does not care for officers who abuse their authority.
"The police just don't abuse people of color, they abuse all people," he said.
As the procession wound through the Jordan, Willard-Hay and Near North neighborhoods, people stepped out of their houses and watched.
Some looked at the parade of chanting protesters with bewilderment. Others chided them.
Children danced to the beats of a drum line accompanying the protest. Some had joined the group by the time it reached the police station.
"It's a good thing that they're doing," Willie Lockett, 28, said of the protesters and their march. He watched from his porch steps near Cottage Park. "But I wish it would be more consistent. I'd bet this is the last we hear of this issue in this neighborhood this year."
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4170437.html
Yellow caution tape, similar to that used by police at crime scenes, was stretched across pillars and formed something of a boundary between the station and the group of about 100 protesters as they chanted against police.
"Be cautious of the Minneapolis Police Department," said Michelle Gross, cofounder of Communities United Against Police Brutality. After the tape was up, she accused the department of being one of the most brutal in the country.
No arrests were made during the three-hour event, which began with more than 50 people at Cottage Park in north Minneapolis, continued with a procession along major streets and concluded with about 100 people gathered outside the precinct station.
It was part of the eighth annual National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality. Rallies were held in about 50 cities across the country.
Gross said that because of two recent police brutality allegations, she expected more people at the march, but that the smaller number doesn't minimize a long-standing problem.
As the protest began, Gross gave a bullhorn to Brenda Jenkins of Minneapolis, who said her 20-year-old son, Philander, an inmate at the Hennepin County jail, was sexually assaulted Oct. 4 by three jail deputies.
Representatives of the Sheriff's Office have been asked not to comment on the case by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), which is handling the investigation to avoid a conflict of interest.
"The whole justice system is corrupt," said Jenkins, 39. "Because it goes beyond my son. It's other people's sons and daughters and mothers and sisters. They don't care about anybody. They are no different from the criminals they are housing themselves."
John Kolstad, 61, of Minneapolis, told the mostly black and young crowd that he does not oppose the police, but that he does not care for officers who abuse their authority.
"The police just don't abuse people of color, they abuse all people," he said.
As the procession wound through the Jordan, Willard-Hay and Near North neighborhoods, people stepped out of their houses and watched.
Some looked at the parade of chanting protesters with bewilderment. Others chided them.
Children danced to the beats of a drum line accompanying the protest. Some had joined the group by the time it reached the police station.
"It's a good thing that they're doing," Willie Lockett, 28, said of the protesters and their march. He watched from his porch steps near Cottage Park. "But I wish it would be more consistent. I'd bet this is the last we hear of this issue in this neighborhood this year."
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4170437.html