Hundreds join walks in Minneapolis high school: ‘Police do not care about us’ | Minneapolis

“National guard, go home!” Hundreds of teens roared in a heavily fortified Minneapolis on Monday as part of state-wide high school marches over the murders of Daunte Wright and George Floyd.

In neighboring Saint Paul, more than a hundred students brought their grievances about police brutality to the capital, where lawmakers could be seen in the gated state house peeking through the curtains to watch protesters outside.

The high school march against racial injustice and police brutality took place when a court in Minneapolis heard the latest arguments in the Derek Chauvin murder trial. The city took care of the verdict, with hundreds of national guard soldiers deployed.

High school students from across Minneapolis sit in silence during the demonstration.
High school students from across Minneapolis sit in silence during the demonstration. Photo: Brandon Bell / Getty Images

The student protests were organized on Instagram by Minnesota Teen Activists, a local group formed after the George Floyd protests last summer. Students from at least 110 schools across Minnesota are planning demonstrations in honor of Daunte Wright, the group said.

At 1:47 p.m., the time Daunte Wright had been shot eight days earlier, hundreds of teenagers in Minneapolis sat on the ground together to get three minutes of silence. A light snow fell, and their faces were gloomy.

Raysean, 16, a student at Fair High School for the Arts, said he spent the three minutes on “the change we’re going to make”.

As a young black man, he said, he had to come to the protest, even though his mother was worried about the risk, trying to convince him not to do it. He wanted to ‘fight for what I believe in’, he said.

“It is a pity that the children have to come out to fight for our lives,” a student from the Northern Cape High School told the crowd of at least 600 young people.

While many of the speakers who led the songs were 16-year-olds, some adult organizers also spoke, including representatives of the local NAACP.

After George Floyd’s assassination, “America will never be the same again,” said Kimberly Bernard, a New York organizer of the Black Women’s March. “There can be no turning back as it was.”

Mikel Henderson, 13, speaks during a rally in Minneapolis.
Mikel Henderson, 13, speaks during a rally in Minneapolis. Photo: Octavio Jones / Reuters

In Saint Paul, student protesters, some as young as sixth grade, said they were frustrated because state lawmakers still had not passed legislation on police reform.

‘There’s one trial going on and they killed another black man. It just shows it [the police] do not care about us, “said Laniya Allen, 16.” They have no guilt. “

Anisa Lewis, a student at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, said: “How can I just sit in school and learn about World War II … if I can protest here for my future?”

Only two state legislators came forward to speak to the students through the security fence around the capital.

“George Floyd was assassinated in Southern Minneapolis a year ago, and since then we have not done a single thing at the Capitol,” Senator Omar Fateh, who represents the district where George Floyd was assassinated, told the crowd of students.

“We are very grateful that you are here today. We can not be successful without your support, ‘Fateh said, holding a bullhorn between the young activists against the fence.

Lewis said she believes that if lawmakers had taken action earlier, Daunte Wright might not have been killed the previous week.

‘We could have prevented [Wright’s death] if they could do reform as they said, ”Lewis said. “We did our part. This is their chance, otherwise it’s just a bunch of empty words. ‘

A few teachers joined the teens at the state main protest, but they stayed behind the crowd.

“I think they can stand up and lead, and we need to give them the space,” said Christina Efteland, a math teacher at the Upper Mississippi Academy (UMA). “They have enough power on their own.”

Jean Fawver, a special education teacher at UMA, saw the students’ protest marches’ also bring a sense of hope and a sense of hopelessness’. ‘Is any of this going to matter to George Floyd and his family? There is nothing we can do to fix it. ”

Student activists in Minnesota also staged protests in Becker, Robbinsdale, Carlton, Saint Louis Park, South saint paul, Roseville, Moorkop, Maple grove, en Red wing, according to reports on social media.

The organizer says the group of teenage activists in Minnesota has previously raised more than $ 80,000 to support small local businesses that were damaged during the protests.

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