Minnesota stands strong in the struggle against Trump

When the outcome became clear election night, activists in the fight against against police crimes and for Black liberation created a Facebook event calling for a protest Nov. 9. The event garnered near 6.5K invites in 12 to 24 hours of individual organizing. It wasn’t attributed to a single organization but occurred through the mass movement. Some of the organizations represented at the demonstration were Black Lives Matter Saint Paul, AR14, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, Black Liberation Project, Justice for Marcus Golden and Freedom Road Socialist Organization, along with many others not affiliated with groups.

The event began at the Minnesota State Capitol building and was attended by hundreds of people. It quickly shifted into a roving demonstration which shut down downtown Saint Paul and the Metro Transit System. After making its way through downtown Saint Paul, the demonstration moved onto University Avenue which runs parallel to I-94. United voices chanting “No Trump, no KKK, No racist USA,” and “Who’s streets? Our streets!” rang throughout the night.

The participants were made up of a core of those involved in the struggle against police crimes and for Black liberation, with many youths from oppressed nationalities. The demonstration drew many new people into the movement with an overwhelming showing of queer/trans, immigrant, oppressed, women, children and differently-abled folks. Even those stopped due to the interruption of public transit left buses and trains to join the mass demonstration.

Once the protest reached University Avenue it grew in size as residents joined, including a motorcade of at least two dozen vehicles. Workers from the businesses on University Avenue both expressed solidarity from inside their workplace and made their way outside. Both east and west-bound lanes of University Avenue became blocked by the crowd. In total this consist of four to six lanes and both the east and west-bound Metro Transit Green Line light rail trains.

The Saint Paul Police Department and the Minnesota State Troopers were called in to put down the resistance. While the police were successful in blocking access to I-94, the mass demo grew in numbers from being been quarantined to the neighborhoods of working-class and oppressed nationalities. The four-hour protest finished by moving back into downtown.