ST. PAUL, Minn. — Though anger at police bubbled up and officers used tear gas on crowds Tuesday, the streets of St. Paul were calmer than on the first day of the Republican National Convention.
After more than 280 people were arrested Monday, Tuesday’s arrests totaled 10 by late evening.
There was a peaceful protest in the evening, drawing about 2,000 people. About 1,000 people started out from Mears Park in the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign’s March for Our Lives.
When they got to the Minnesota Capitol, they were joined by about 1,000 more who had been at the RippleEffect concert at the Capitol.
At the end of the fest, the band Rage Against the Machine turned up for an impromptu performance. They weren’t allowed to take the stage, reportedly because of a time limit. The band performed via megaphone and then left the area in SUVs, driving straight through the tail end of the march.
The detour through the crowd angered some.
But the celebrities inadvertently doubled the size of the march, as those who had assembled to see them joined marchers as they made their way to the Xcel Energy Center.
March leader Cheri Honkala halted the group and urged them to remain in place while she tried to deliver a citizens’ arrest warrant to officials at the Xcel center. The crowd chanted: “I promise to stay right here and to be peaceful.”
With that, Honkala and others made their way to the barrier gates of the Xcel center. After trying at two places and not being greeted by anybody, Honkala implored officers inside to deliver it for her.
“Don’t just stand there and look at us and get ready to Tase us,” she said to officers in full riot gear on the other side of the gate. “The whole world is watching.”
Later, police shot tear gas canisters at protesters who lingered near Mickey’s Dining Car on Seventh Street. They also set off concussion grenades in their attempts to scatter the crowd, and aimed pepper spray from the sides of the street at people as they fled.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher was there and had told the crowd to disperse.
Shortly before they shot off the gas, a legal observer who was in the crowd argued with protesters.
“If you want to get gassed, stay. If you don’t, go,” he said. “It was a great march. Why ruin it?”
Matt Burdi, 17, of St. Paul was sprayed in the face after trading words with police near the corner of Tenth and St. Peter streets. “They said, ‘Get back, get back,’ ” Burdi said. “I said, ‘I’m not doing anything. I have the right to stand here.’ ”
Earlier Tuesday, St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington said, “We’re looking forward to a day of a little more normality than we had yesterday, obviously.”
But people were angered by a large police presence outside Mears Park before the March for Our Lives.
Pioneer Press staff reporters Mara H. Gottfried, John Brewer, Frederick Melo, Jason Hoppin, Dave Orrick, Tad Vezner, Jeremy Olson and Michael Marchio contributed to this report.
