Kevin and I had no idea which way the crowd was going to turn; all I knew was I didn’t want to get cut off from the Excel and have to dash halfway around the metro to get on the air at 8PM.
The crowd turned right onto the frontage road, as Kevin and I raced up to John Ireland Boulevard. We moved across the bridge as the protest turned left, led by a group of about 20 bike cops and a dozen or so mounted officers.
They strolled out onto the bridge…
…and then things changed. The bike and horse cops formed a line. A squad of motorcycle cops raced down from the Cathedral to join them. They pulled out their Hats ‘n Bats and stopped the march in the middle of the bridge over I94.
Kevin and I stayed as close to the action as we could – but after a few minutes, a couple of Bureau of Criminal Apprehension cops in military battledress pointed us back to the north approach. We grabbed some space on the fence overlooking the bridge, and waited.
A few moments later, I heard a footsteps. I turned – and saw over 100 cops in riot gear moving down from the History Center, donning gas masks and moving to the front rank. It almost looked like a medieval battlefield shaping up; several ranks of infantry with sticks and armor, backed up by the cavalry…
…with artillery – half a dozen cops with 37mm tear gas grenade launchers moved up behind the whole lot.
And we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And wondered where they were going.
Until I saw more riot cops at the north end of the bridge. They had the entire march bottled up on the John Ireland bridge; no way to go to the east or west (they were 20 feet above the freeway), or forward or back.
So we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Someone quipped “I think they’re trying to bore them to death”. The cop I was talking with didn’t disagree.
Eventually, after over an hour of standing around on the bridge, it appeared they were starting to disperse to the north.
Nothing happened, but it was fascinating to watch it happen.
I hiked down Kellogg to the Xcel, walking through a checkpoint and past a long row of National Guard to get to Five Corners and the X.
Did you hear. Some of the arrested terrorists brought their mommies and daddies to court with them. Awwww that’s cute.
The kids and I walked around the fenced off area, from Wall Street to the Dorothy Day Center, up to the History Center, and then to the BK on Grand Ave. We were hoping to see something, but we missed out.
I just saw the snarls of traffic going into downtown, and in downtown, from near the capital. Robert St. was backed up all the way to University.
I don’t know, Chuck… I suppose if I was ever brought into court, for whatever reason, I wouldn’t mind my old man being there. He’s much smarter than me and has sound advice. Moral support from my mom wouldn’t hurt either.
Of course, I’m sure my dad would prefer to be working his farm. “Ah, jeez… you did what??? Mother! Your son’s in trouble.”