Police harassment and failed arrest attempt fail to drive protesters from BLM Plaza

On the 14th of July, MPD cops repeatedly cited vending laws to harass activists on Black Lives Matter Plaza for things OTHER than vending, such as setting up tables prior to the 8PM yoga session. At one point, cops attempted to arrest someone without a warrant for "fitting a description" only to be deterred and driven off by the crowd. After all this tension the yoga session drew quite a crowd.

When the police harassment began, urgent alerts went out and a number of independent journalists began rotating in and out of the area. Several showed up repeatedly, and there was no way at any time for police to be sure one or more of them were not on-call and minutes away if not already in sight. Organizers said the presence of media may have kept many of the vending law based harassment incidents from escalating into arrests or attempted arrests. Naturally the corporate media was nowhere to be seen, but that was not enough to give the cops the privacy they prefer for committing crimes.

Earlier in the day, MPD cops forced away first aid as well as food tents (no money accepted) on grounds of being "unlicensed." Even supplies of water (a life and death matter in summer heat over asphalt and concrete) were not off limits to police efforts at elimination.It is clear whose these cops "serve and protect" and it's NOT those whose lives they place at risk by attempting to drive away medics and supplies of water on hot summer days.