On the night of November 4, over 30 organizations and over 1000 people came together to march against Trump’s attempts to steal the election. As the community marched on to Interstate 94, the authorities moved in, without any warning, and refused to let the crowd leave the freeway. All participants were arrested, including children.

This is the first time in five years – since the murder of Jamar Clark – that the cops have harassed families and community members on such a mass scale. But, despite the intimidation by police, protesters stayed calm and organized, holding the space with speeches, chants and a marathon dance party.

Many livestreamed the incident and made calls to local politicians to question the glaring First Amendment violations.

The original demands for the march were a call for a People’s Mandate to address the triple pandemic of racism, COVID-19 and recession. Primarily, the march focused on protesting Trump’s unconstitutional theft of the election, but also recognized that much work needed to be done to secure our rights even if Biden took the presidency.

Many participants in the protest were from the labor movement and had worked hard to defeat Trump and all he stands for. They are teachers, office workers, library staff, health care workers, cleaners and cooks.

In addition to stopping Trump from stealing the elections and the NAARPR demands, protest organizers now demand that all charges against demonstrators are dropped and that the cars impounded be released without fees.

According to a statement from the Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar, “We continue to fight for and demand community control of police so that police can no longer infringe on our First Amendment rights as they did today.”

#MinneapolisMN #NAARPR #TwinCitiesCoalition4Justice4Jamar #DontLetTrumpStealTheElection #PeoplesMandate