The AWC stands in solidarity with the mass arrestees of Nov 4th, DROP ALL CHARGES NOW!
On November 4th, in response to the then-still-undecided election, multiple groups in the Twin Cities held a joint protest to say “no matter the outcome, we need to keep fighting for change”. The demonstration was spearheaded by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, and over 30 groups, including the Anti-War Committee, participated in the action.
That night, thousands of protesters donned masks, carried signs, and marched peacefully through the streets of Minneapolis. The demonstration took to the freeway, as we have many times before, including during this Summer’s uprising against police brutality and racism sparked by the murder of George Floyd. But as marchers began to leave up the off-ramp, the police surrounded and “kettled” us on the freeway, trapping us there, and eventually arresting 646+ people.
Protesters were issued citations for being a “public nuisance,” but our 15 minute shut-down of one side of the freeway was nothing compared to the nuisance of them shutting down I-94 in both directions for six hours with line after line of cops in riot gear. Only a few of them were actually arresting people, taking us one at a time to be cuffed and booked, while the rest mostly just stood around collecting overtime. The march remained peaceful throughout this ordeal and even had a dance party right there on the freeway, but at no point was the number of police officers surrounding us justified. The overreaction by the police was the real problem that night.
The Anti-War Committee is one of many organizations that participated in and helped marshal this demonstration. All of our members who were present that night were arrested, and we have committed as a group to fighting our charges until everyone’s charges are dropped. We are also outraged – though not at all surprised – to learn that the cops treated non-white protestors very differently, and we will not allow the government to target any one group of participants or any of the main organizers with harsher charges.
We have a right and a duty to freely dissent, and we must defend that right when faced with state repression. Governor Walz ramped up repression of protestors all summer long, and he shows no signs of reconsidering. Recently, in anticipation of a judicial decision in the case of the murder of Breonna Taylor (a massive miscarriage of justice), Walz called in the National Guard preemptively, because he anticipated “unrest”. He then decided to “set an example” the night of November 4, to try to dissuade the community from speaking out. These are the methods of an advancing police state, and we in the AWC understand that it is our job to stand up to these attacks.
We want to thank the organizers who kept us together that night and kept us as safe as possible, and all the marshals and medics who helped out during that six-hour ordeal. We thank the legal observers and media, who made sure that the truth about the situation was presented loud and clear. Ane we stand in solidarity with the people watching and supporting us from the overlooking street and nearby apartment building, some of whom were pepper-sprayed and attacked by bike cops just for being there and witnessing what went on. We know the importance of solidarity when dealing with state repression and we want to make sure this is an opportunity to grow the movement. We will not allow the government to divide and turn us against each other. We will not remain silent when we see these repressive tactics being used on others or ourselves. Solidarity forever!
We in the Anti-War Committee want to publicly reiterate that we have a right to protest. We want to publicly express our outrage at the actions of Governor Walz and the police. This was a gross misuse of our state’s resources, and in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, was unsafe on many levels. The true crime isn’t Minnesotans blocking streets! It is our racist government continuing to target and murder Black, brown and indigenous people at home and abroad and failing to ever hold their killers accountable. We will keep marching, organized and loud, until we see racial justice and an end to US imperialism. And we call on our supporters to call Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey and let them know that we will not stand for these attacks on our movements.
When we fight, we win!
(Below is a call-in script for people interested in putting pressure on our government officials on behalf of the arresteesof the Nov 4th action)
Call in: Drop The Charges Against the 11/4 646
Wednesday, November 18th & 19th from 7 AM – 7 PM
- Governor Tim Walz: 651-201-3400
- Mayor Jacob Frey: 612-673-2100
Sample script:
“My name is [name] and I’m a resident of [city]. I’m calling to demand that all charges be dropped against the 646 protesters who were arrested on November 4 on I-94 in Minneapolis. This was a protest against the police murders of George Floyd and so many others, demanding all votes be counted in the previous day’s presidential election and real police accountability from the winner. What would have been a short, safe march on one direction of the highway became a dangerous six-hour ordeal as police surrounded protesters without giving any dispersal warning, physically blocked protesters from exiting the highway, closed both lanes of traffic, assaulted bystanders, and largely refused to wear masks to help prevent Covid-19 transmission. Many protesters face ‘public nuisance’ charges, but the real public nuisance was the police decision to escalate the situation with unlawful mass arrests. It will also be a public nuisance to bring these flimsy, politically motivated charges before the court system which is already backlogged due to the pandemic. These charges are an attempt to intimidate the Black Lives Matter movement out of its First Amendment rights rather than address the ongoing crisis of unaccountable police murders. Drop ALL charges against the I-94 646 immediately.”
Please spread the word! Initiated by the Anti-War Committee.