Activists: All charges against Minneapolis protesters drop Black Lives Matter News

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States – Minneapolis activists have called for the suspension of all charges against police brutality and racism since the assassination of George Floyd, saying the arrests are an effort to address dissent.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin he was convicted on April 20 for second- and third-degree murder and second-degree murder related to Floyd’s death.

The verdict sparked a joyous celebration and calls for more justice, especially for the hundreds of protesters who still have allegations.

About 600 people were arrested during the initial protests activists call it a “rebellion”, but mass arrests have taken place in numerous demonstrations. Recently, about 150 arrests were made protests Daunte Wright’s murder of former police officer Kim Potter took place in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Brooklyn Center while Chauvin’s trial was taking place.

About 50 people were arrested after Chauvin was released on bail in October 600 in a post-election riot in November 600 and 35 years in a nightly demonstration and other protests. The arrests resulted in minor crimes ranging from criminal incidents.

Link, who called himself a “leftist,” who gave his name only to those arrested by the Minneapolis Police Department, told Al Jazeera that “people were protesting and trying to repress and prosecute all these allegations” that put pressure on authorities to prosecute Chauvin.

Hundreds of people arrested by local organizations such as the National Bar Association and the Legal Rights Center are organizing to fight the allegations.

Traia Thiel, organizer of the chapter Minneapolis The National Bar Association told Al Jazeera that he had been charged with a misdemeanor after the October protest.

Thiel explained the detainees in a coordinated manner and made a joint attempt to bring the charges to trial.

Hennepin County courts have overflowed with charges arrested in the past year and the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down proceedings, turning the legal proceedings against protesters into heavy work for local courts.

While some were making claims deals, they left Thiel’s misconduct with everyone else who didn’t do it “just a few weeks ago,” he said.

600 I-94an

Thiel explained that it is difficult to know exactly how many people have been arrested or requested, due to the high number of arrests in the last year.

He wasn’t personally surprised by his removal from office, but “before 600 cases left this small group … it’s interesting the way they’re choosing which event they want to leave.”

600 cases occurred in the aftermath of the election on Interstate 94. Rob Lewis, Maria Higueros-Canny, Theo Martinson-Sage and Mara McCollor were arrested that night.

Hennepin County attorney charged 19-year-old Amina McCaskill with the 2nd-degree riot during the Minneapolis I-94 protest. Police in an indictment allege that McCaskill pointed the laser at an officer, but complained that they were wearing laser safety goggles and were not injured.

– Tony Webster (@webster) November 6, 2020

Lewis and Higueros-Canny are both professors. Martinson-Sage and McCollor are college students. All the riots they saw in 2020 prompted them to protest. They all received bad intentions, they intend to fight.

Higueros-Canny, an unmarried mother, left her children in the care of her sister. He, along with the others, were arrested around 8pm after being “burned” by local protesters who used police tactics to control large crowds.

Law enforcement officials needed hours to book hundreds of detainees. As time went on, Higueros-Canny began to worry about his children. “We finally went and turned it around probably around 11:30 p.m.”

McCollor and Martinson-Sage, about 20 years old, were also arrested around 8 p.m. It was the first arrest for both of them.

Police had their hands zipped when they were arrested from behind. McCollor said he was scared because “armed” police surrounded the group and the helicopters were flying overhead.

University students who were charged with being charged in a police car were released after a few hours. But they were still zipped up, they said, unable to use the phone to ride.

Eventually, they found others who could help them cut the plastic by hand.

Demonstrators were arrested in Minneapolis after hundreds of people marched on I-94 in an election protest https://t.co/AZlWiKZs98 pic.twitter.com/piz97HxR87

– WCCO – CBS Minnesota (@WCCO) November 5, 2020

Everyone felt worries and arrests in the face of activism. Lewis said the experience drew parallels with the activists he knew in Egypt.

“You don’t go out to protest because they will beat you. You will be surrounded. They will arrest you. “

He saw it once protests in downtown Brooklyn after Wright’s death, who had tear gas, maces and less deadly ammunition used in the protest, prompted Lewis to “think, will I be safe to protest?”

A person is on the balcony of an apartment complex while smoke is rising in the background as law enforcement agents begin cleaning protesters outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department on April 14, 2021 [File: Leah Millis/Reuters]

However, all four said they would continue to protest.

“Maybe I won’t get on the freeway soon,” Higueros-Canny said, “but I’ll still be protesting at places like Brooklyn Center at night.”

He concluded, “All of this has decided me even more.”