The local Black Lives Matter movement took to the streets again in St. Paul yesterday. The marchers, some 40 in all, marched by the Governor’s mansion on Summit Avenue to protest Governor Mark Dayton’s disparagement of their State Fair protest this past weekend as “inappropriate.”
That’s stern stuff coming from a liberal Democrat; the Black Lives Matter crowd is not used to that kind of disrespect. Indeed, that is precisely what protest leader Rashad Turner had to say according to the Star Tribune photo caption: “It was disrespectful to call protesting inappropriate. The governor needs to realize he’s in a position to help people.”
Governor Dayton called the State Fair protest “inappropriate” before the march. After the marchers were widely reported to have chanted “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon” during their march this past Saturday morning, Governor Dayton only had to think about what to say for three days. Yesterday he pronounced — through his press secretary — that it “was a terrible thing to say.” Not surprisingly, Governor Dayton managed to arrange his schedule to avoid the residence when the Black Lives Matter crowd swung by last night.
The Star Tribune limits its coverage of the march yesterday to a photograph and a caption. By contrast, the Pioneer Press has posted an interesting story on the march by Mara Gottfried and Jaime DeLage. Gottfried and DeLage work overtime to do a little public relations on behalf of the BLM crowd:
The “pigs in a blanket” chant was one of many during the hours-long event Saturday and lasted about 30 seconds, say people who were part of the group. The mood during the chant was not contentious, according to the man who took video of it and posted it on Twitter. And the police field supervisor escorting the group of marchers made a comment at the time, “Everybody likes bacon. I think we can all get behind that.”
There were no arrests or injuries in the unpermitted State Fair march that drew hundreds.
The Pioneer Press reporters give Turner a platform to expose himself as a moron. They go so far as to quote him: “He’s calling what is a constitutional right of ours, of every single citizen of this country, to protest, he’s calling that inappropriate.” And then there is this unperceptive observation: “I know the governor’s not home, but some of his neighbors would love to hear our voices….So we’re going to march in the streets, we’re going to use our voices.”
The Democrats cannot confront the Black Lives Matter line. They live on the identity politics that on which BLM thrives. I hope the local crew will keep at it until it has a chance to work things out with Governor Dayton face to face.
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