I attended the October 22nd rally monday evening, and the rally and march staged last night at the City Center. Although a number of people attended, and despite the fact that the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis, along with city council members were invited, none were brave enough to attend. As I viewed the pictures and heard statements about brutality and murder of citizens by police, I could not help wondering about the fear that kept politicians at bay. Was it the fear of being identified and subsequently subjected to harassment, or abuse by (???) officials or police?? If so, all the more reason for the rally. Was it the fear of associating with person concerned over incidents of brutality and murder??? Even so, all the more reason to stage a rally. I intended to address the crowd, but qas forced to leave because of previously arranged events: presentations were much more than had been planned and time simply ran over the estimate. It was, and is frightening to hear of the occurences of brutality against women and children particularly. With the training, equipment, and authority embodied in police, who can justify the brute force directed against women and children? It is a travesty for police to adopt this attitude against men, especially since it is aimed primarily at men of color, but damned unfathomable to carry it over to women and children. What, or whom is protected or served in this instance? If the evidence did not exist (tragically) all over the nation and, more particularly, right under our very nose, maybe ignoring the plea for help from citizens would be more understandable. But it is real. It does exist. It is alive and well in Minneapolis. And the people who voted you (politicians) in office are concerned, hurting, dying, and asking for your help. You refused ! What (else) should they do ? The crowd even recognized that the rally and march last night could have resulted in arrest and brutality, even though it was well organized. And in a show of solidarity and concern, shared a number to be called in the event of arrest. What has happened to bring on this sad state of affairs ?? And the politicians sat silent. Safely away from the "TO" (targeted objective). Even during the atrocities and eminent danger in a war zone some politicians dared show up, if for no other reason than to impress constituents at home. Was the gathering too small, unworthy of your attention ? The quesion you should be concerned with is "how many people will be touched by this cry for help, this plea to change fear of contact with police into trust of their intent to serve and protect, how many will vote, and whether they will vote you out of office based on your fear, or inability or unwillingness to intervene on their behalf". Isn;t that a classic definition of what you (should) do ?? Robert Anderson Minneapolis IP Candidate, House 61B http://www.egroups.com/group/anderson4rep
