Today, the St. Paul Black Lives Matter organization marched on the State Fair to protest alleged brutality by the St. Paul police department. The march was long-awaited and something like 900 participants had been expected, but nowhere near that many turned out.
The protesters closed down streets and highways on their way to the fair.
The main entrance to the fair on Snelling Avenue was closed down, which must have been a terrible inconvenience to fairgoers. Here the marchers are at the main gate, with fairgoers looking on curiously.
There was no violence, but a number of passers-by stopped to argue with the demonstrators. In each case, as reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, those who argued with the marchers said that all lives matter.
At one point the marchers made a halfhearted attempt to break into the fair via the Como Avenue gate, but were turned back by law enforcement.
Each city must have its cause celebre; St. Paul’s is Marcus Golden, an African-American who was shot by St. Paul police last January. Some marchers carried signs or wore t-shirts with slogans like “Justice for Marcus Golden” and “Marcus Golden’s life matters.” As is so often the case, criticism of the St. Paul police appears misplaced. This is what happened to Golden:
Early in the morning of Jan. 14, police had been called to the 200 block of University Avenue E. in St. Paul on a report of a man sending death threats via text message. They had been told that the suspect was known to carry a gun.
Officers drove behind an apartment building and found Golden’s SUV parked in a dark and “very secluded” area, police said at the time.
The two uniformed officers ordered Golden to step out of his vehicle.
He refused, and they fired their weapons when Golden drove at them at high speed, nearly striking [Officer] Doverspike.
Golden died at the scene.
Police have said that a loaded handgun was found within Golden’s reach after he was shot.
Apparently that’s the best case of police brutality that local activists can come up with.
For conservatives, the Black Lives Matter movement is a gift. “Black lives matter” is easily trumped by “all lives matter,” and demonstrators create nothing but resentment when they shut down highways and disrupt institutions like the State Fair. In fact, it is hard to imagine a worse PR move than marching on the fair. As if the Democrats didn’t have enough problems already, the Black Lives Matter movement promises to embarrass them in the current election cycle, much as violent anti-war protesters did in Chicago in 1968.
UPDATE: The marchers’ chant, “Pigs in A blanket, fry ‘em like bacon,” won’t win them a lot of friends, either. No wonder only 300 or so people were willing to associate themselves with this homicidal “movement”!
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