Obama’s America…
Rather than make arrests, Minneapolis police and State Patrol officials said they made on-the-spot decisions to keep demonstrators safe from traffic.
Police who blocked traffic for protesters who shut down Interstate 35W in Minneapolis last week said they didn’t have advance warning the group planned to march down one of the state’s busiest freeways in the middle of the afternoon.
About 150 demonstrators took to the freeway on Dec. 4, protesting a grand jury’s decision not to indict a police officer in the death of a black man. The group marched for 3 miles from south Minneapolis to downtown, where they entered City Hall and climbed the stairs to the offices of the City Council. The freeway was shut down for more than an hour.
None of the protesters was arrested or cited. Rather than make arrests, Minneapolis Police Department and State Patrol officials said they made on-the-spot decisions to keep demonstrators safe from traffic. The city does not issue permits for demonstrations, but Minneapolis police do have a written policy for dealing with such events: keep the peace and don’t interfere unless a crime has been committed.