As protesters change demonstration tactics, St. Paul leaders meet with Obama

Forty-one people are facing misdemeanor charges after a rush-hour demonstration closed the southbound lanes of Interstate 35W in Minneapolis Wednesday morning. It marked the second freeway shutdown in the week since St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez killed Philando Castile during a traffic stop on Larpenteur Avenue in Falcon Heights.

The latest group arrested on the freeway calls itself the "Coalition to Wake Your Ass Up." Most of the members appear to be white, and include university students, young professionals, and parents. The group was formed just days after Castile's death.

Before being handcuffed on the highway, the group shouted: "Black Lives, they matter here" and "disarm, defund, take away their guns." Oluchi Omeoga, a spokesperson for the Twin Cities-based collective, spoke for the whites arrested and charged.

"Black people specifically are tired of fighting for their own opressions," Omeoga said. "This has to be something that people outside of our race care about. If people really think All Lives Matter, like they like to say, then show up and actually mean what you're about."

The group called for disarming and disbanding police. Omeoga, who is also a Black Lives Matter organizer, said the organization welcomes the support of white allies. Omeoga says the group shut down the interstate during the height of morning rush hour to maximize the impact of their message.

"It's an inconvenience for Philando Castile to be dead right now. It's an inconvenience for his family," Omeoga said. "So your small inconvenience for not being able to go to work on time is very miniscule compared to the black and brown bodies that are dying at the hands of police."

State troopers arrested the protesters en masse Wednesday morning, but the sheriff's officials who run the Hennepin County Jail, where they were being held, were in no such hurry to release them.

Throughout the afternoon and into the evening, demonstrators posted bail and walked out of the jail, one by one. Supporters greeted each with a slice of pizza and a hug.

Minneapolis City Attorney Susan Segal said the 41 people arrested are charged with unlawful assembly and creating a public nuisance. She said the city is committed to protecting the right to protest peacefully and lawfully, but that public safety is paramount.

"Trying to shut down freeways, it's an unlawful place and it is not a safe place for protest activity," she said.

Gov. Mark Dayton reiterated the concern. People have the right to demonstrate, he said, but not on the freeway: "I urge people to protest at my residence, as people have done so in the last week, as people have been doing so peacefully there."

As protesters left jail Wednesday, St. Paul's mayor, Chris Coleman, and police chief, Todd Axtell, were in Washington for a discussion with President Obama about criminal justice and community policing. The group included other mayors and law enforcement leaders from around the country, as well as Mica Grimm of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis and NAACP national president Cornell Brooks.

Axtell said, among other things, the group discussed the challenges of policing protests.

"What I'm hearing that's unique that sometimes we in law enforcement don't understand is that, when there are protests — certainly non-violent protests, protests that are productive — those environments are meant to be a grieving process for people most impacted by some of the occurrences that are going on throughout the country," Axtell said.

Coleman said it's key for every police department in the country — no matter how big or small — to have the same level of training in racial equity and de-escalating tense situations.

MPR News reporters Doualy Xaykaothao and Matt Sepic produced the radio stories about protesters' approaches and police responses, respectively, that accompany this report.