ST. PAUL, Minn. – Eighteen people were arrested over the course of a weekend filled with protests following the acquittal of St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez.
Early Saturday 18 people were arrested at a standoff on I-94 between protesters and the Minnesota State Patrol, reports the Star Tribune. Two journalists were among those arrested, Susan Du from City Pages, and David Clarey from the Minnesota Daily. They were charged with unlawful assembly and being a public nuisance, and were released from the Ramsey County jail later that day.
That protest started at the state Capitol, and shut down I-94 for around three hours, reports the Pioneer Press.
In St. Anthony, about 100 people gathered at the city’s police department on Sunday for “Father’s Day for Philando” reports the Pioneer Press. They then proceeded to march to a local shopping center, and blocked traffic at its entrance for roughly half-an-hour.
Minneapolis mayoral candidate Nekima Levy-Pounds was present at the protest, and applauded the negative economic impact the shutdown was having on the community.
“We need to keep showing up, we need to keep making sure that our voices are being heard. But the next phase of this system — and our protesting — has to be economic,” Levy-Pounds said, reports the Pioneer Press.
On Monday 300 people gathered in another march around St. Anthony’s city hall and police department, reports the Star Tribune.
Yanez had been charged with one count of manslaughter for the fatal shooting of motorist Philando Castile, as well as two counts of dangerous discharge of a weapon for firing his gun in close proximity of Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds and her young daughter.
While the deliberations by the jury lasted five days, juror Dennis Ploussard told CBS News that the majority of the 12 member jury voted for acquittal early on. The two holdouts took the full five days to be convinced to acquit Yanez.
Castile’s family is planning to file a civil suit against Yanez in federal court, reports KMSP.
