Arrested Minnesota Palestine protesters released after public pressure campaign

Minneapolis, MN – On the evening of December 11, eight Palestine protesters were arrested by Minnesota State Patrol while driving on Interstate-94 in Minneapolis.

Out of the eight protesters, five were released overnight. The next afternoon, supporters with the Free Palestine Coalition gathered across from the jail where the rest were being held to demand their release and that all charges be dropped. The remaining three arrestees were released during that rally.

According to coalition member Ashley Taylor-Gougé, “The decision to arrest the protesters and impound their vehicles, rather than simply issue tickets for minor alleged traffic violations, was a politically motivated attack by Minnesota State Patrol on Palestinians and their supporters. We condemn the State Patrol’s actions. We urge city and county attorneys to drop all the charges against all eight.”

A day-long a call-in campaign was carried out to put further public pressure on the county to release and drop charges.

Sabry Wazwaz, a member of the MN Anti-War Committee, explained that while the protesters were driving slowly on the highway in a peaceful protest, they did not block the highway and allowed faster traffic to pass by. “It was a state trooper who overreacted. They came, they took over. They’re the ones who completely blocked us off in the tunnel. Eight protesters were then illegally arrested.”

All told, the State Patrol blocked the highway traffic for around two hours while making arrests and searching and impounding cars. Even passengers were arrested and taken to jail with trumped-up charges unrelated to the protest. Reportedly, some of these charges have since been dropped.

Some of those whose cars were impounded were charged nearly $1000, raising questions about the private towing company and impound lot and its relationship with law enforcement.

Abrahim Eisa, one of the arrested protesters, took things back to the original point of the protest, stating, “Something that we should be taking into account, more than the actual news of how I got arrested or how there was a big issue in Minnesota, is the bigger picture of children in Gaza that are under ten years old being destroyed every day in terms of physically, mentally, literally, like some kids are literally being destroyed, annihilated. So I’d say, I was arrested for 24 hours, but my heart stays with Gaza and I’ll do this again and again and I’m not worried about it. I won’t stop until Palestine is free from the river to the sea.”

The Free Palestine Coalition continues to demand that the city and county drop all charges.

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