Black Lives Matter protests were nonviolent, but certainly not calm
- 8 years ago
Charles Preston wants to make one thing perfectly clear.
Worries that protests against police might turn violent had brought a member of Congress out onto the pavement in Minneapolis and prompted a pleading press conference from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Tuesday.
But Tuesday night's message was not "all is well," say Mr. Preston and others involved in the protests.
For instance, the arrest of aspiring Chicago poet Malcolm London - who once appeared at a TED Talk with Bill Gates and John Legend - was on "trumped up charges," says Preston.
The incident speaks of the fraught relationship that remains between the black community and police even as police take historic steps steps to rebuild trust.
In Minneapolis, five Black Lives Matter protesters were shot Monday night - though not seriously wounded - at one of a series of nightly rallies outside the Fourth Precinct for Jamar Clark, a black man fatally shot by police on Nov. 15.
Worries that protests against police might turn violent had brought a member of Congress out onto the pavement in Minneapolis and prompted a pleading press conference from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Tuesday.
But Tuesday night's message was not "all is well," say Mr. Preston and others involved in the protests.
For instance, the arrest of aspiring Chicago poet Malcolm London - who once appeared at a TED Talk with Bill Gates and John Legend - was on "trumped up charges," says Preston.
The incident speaks of the fraught relationship that remains between the black community and police even as police take historic steps steps to rebuild trust.
In Minneapolis, five Black Lives Matter protesters were shot Monday night - though not seriously wounded - at one of a series of nightly rallies outside the Fourth Precinct for Jamar Clark, a black man fatally shot by police on Nov. 15.