Black Lives Matter Minneapolis is requesting donations to pay bail and legal fees for dozens of activists who were arrested during protests Saturday night. Authorities say the crowd threw rocks, bottles, bricks, rebar and fireworks at Minnesota police.
Protesters outraged over the deaths of Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana took to the streets in cities across the country, prompting hundreds of arrests, including over 100 in St. Paul Saturday night. Now, Black Lives Matter Minneapolis is asking for help.
The activist group sent out a mass text message Sunday to its supporters requesting donations.
“Over 49 arrested last night, please make a donation to our legal defense and bail fund through Paypal at blacklivesmattermpls2016@gmail.com,” reads a text message obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Folks are being charged with gross misdemeanor and felony charges, they will need our help for upcoming legal battles.”
A viral video of Castile’s death shows him in the driver’s seat of a car bleeding and clearly injured as a police officer points a gun at him. Castile’s girlfriend, who is filming with a cell phone, claims Castile told the officer he had a concealed carry. She says the officer asked for his license and registration, and when Castile reached for it, the cop fatally shot him.
The group also took to Facebook to request money.
“We know that people are being charged with felony and gross misdemeanor charges,” Black Lives Matter Minneapolis posted on Facebook. “The state is escalating on protesters to shut us down. The only way we keep going is to fight back, and these legal battles can take years. We just wrapped up the last case in the first MOA protest in 2014. Please help and share widely.”
The protests come after five Dallas cops were killed during a Black Lives Matter protest Thursday.
Please share widely!!!! pic.twitter.com/x98fZdTPyQ
— Black Lives MPLS (@BlackLivesMpls) July 10, 2016
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