Dozens of protestors, inspired by the fatal police shooting of Philando Castile on July 6, were arrested Tuesday and Wednesday after gathering outside the governor's mansion in St. Paul, Minn. and blocking several streets and sidewalks.
According to reports, the street of Gov. Mark Dayton's residence, Summit Avenue, has become the center of protests ever since a video went viral of Castile bleeding out after being shot by police in nearby Falcon Heights. The protests have repeatedly blocked off Summit Avenue to car traffic, with protestors setting up tents, tarps, tables and even fire pits.
Police began to try and clear the street Tuesday morning, ordering the removal of objects such as tents, tarps and chairs as well as telling protestors to stay out of the road. Around 10:30 a.m., one protestor allegedly moved a "No Parking" sign, and when police tried to arrest the perpetrator, the protestors linked arms. A number of people were arrested as officers worked to break up the human chain, as shown below [Warning: video may contain explicit language]:
Protestors voiced their complaints with the cops' handling of the situation, one saying that the police "became physically abusive." Another protestor, Jacob Ladda, told the Star Tribune that the police were "trying to strip us of our well-being" and "using intimidation tactics rather than legal tactics."
“We continue to be committed to allow for peaceful protests, but we have an obligation that people are safe and follow the rules, and when that’s no longer the case we need to take action," St. Paul mayor Chris Coleman said at a news conference, going on to say that law enforcement acted "politely" and "peacefully" while some protestors "became defiant and [...] dangerous."
Protests continued to sporadically disrupt traffic on Summit Avenue for the rest of the day. Several officers eventually donned riot gear and at one point sprayed a chemical irritant at protestors gathering in the middle of the street:
By the end of Tuesday, it was estimated that at least 46 protestors had been arrested for unlawful assembly. However, at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, 23 more people were taken into custody for unlawful assembly and public nuisance just one block west of the governor's mansion, the first mass-arrest of the protest so far.
“The state has to understand they cannot kill people with impunity. They cannot continue to get away with this and not expect the people to rise up,” President of the NAACP Minneapolis Nekima Levy Pounds told reporters. "We don't need to be treated like animals and criminals when we're simply out here demanding justice for someone who didn't deserve to be killed."
As of 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, no protestors were in the areas surrounding the governor's mansion. However, protests will more than likely continue to crop up until it is decided whether charges will be brought against the officer who shot Castile.