July 12, 2016
Mayor Chris
Coleman
Police Chief
Todd Axtell
City of St.
Paul
St. Paul, MN
55406-1322
Dear Mayor Coleman and Chief Axtell,
I wish I was able to have been in the streets on Saturday
night with some of my friends, standing in solidarity as a white ally to Black
Lives Matter – alas, I couldn’t risk arrest because of a recent blood clot
requires medicine twice a day for the next three months and I couldn’t take the
risk of being unable to take that medicine. I, like many of those friends, have
taken training in “militant nonviolence” as a way of working for social change
which I think you also must recognize must happen quickly - especially in the wake of the killing
of Philando Castille – if we are to avoid even greater social disorder and
disruption.
I think you’ve made a terrible mistake in judgment in
“overcharging” most of those arrested on Interstate 94 with Third-degree Riot.
Did you notice that most of those who were so-charged were white, middle-class
activist-types who have been the bedrock of our communities for years? [Please note: the “overcharging” refers to a peaceful,
nonviolent gathering –with the notable exception of some outsiders not
affiliated with Black Lives Matter and/or Standing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ)
activists – rather than the fact that most were “white” or middle-class.]
Many of those arrested went there precisely for that
purpose: to commit public civil disobedience as an act of solidarity with
people of color to stay to them: as a white ally, I feel your pain, hurt, and
suffering. I, too, want to end the silence in our state about the system of white silence which allows the
continuation of policies of white
supremacy to infect our police departments. [I say this with a deep sadness
as someone who deeply loves and cares for my brother-in-law in western
Pennsylvania who is both a retired Chief of Police and a retired Mayor of his
hometown, the small city of New Kensington. While he an I have our friendly
disagreements about the use and tactic of civil disobedience, I know he, like
you, is fair-minded and full of distress at the racial chasm we have allowed to
fester in our nation.]
I am one of the 25 white allies arrested for blocking the
Light Rail tracks on the afternoon of the Twins Opener this April and will be
in court to face those charges next week. I am ready and willing to go to jail as
an act of solidarity with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis for it. I‘m grateful
to hear that you, Chief Axtell, publicly stated yesterday that you will
continue to work with the Black Lives Matter movement as Chief. I was present
and grateful to first encounter you several weeks ago before your appointment
as Chief of Police when you came to the event at a mosque/Islamic Center in
Frogtown on Islamaphobia and stood side-by-side with the Imam and said how
necessary it is to work together to better our community. I was there as a
white Christian ally to show my Muslim brothers and sisters that they are a
valued part of our community.
If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion to both of you
for the next time such a confrontation occurs: give the mandated 3 warnings and
then make the requisite arrests without the smoke bombs and pepper spray. Yes,
keep your officers safe – I, too, like most of my friends absolutely denounce
the handful of self-proclaimed “anarchists” who hide in the crowd and throw
stones and invectives while covering their faces and their shameful acts. Just
arrest those who are there who want to be arrested as an act of solidarity and
want to be able to stand in Court to denounce our white supremist system which
so devalues the lives of others – both Black Lives as well as Blue Lives. Those
self-proclaimed “anarchists” want nothing more than a police over-reaction and
the chaos it produces and gives many of my true anarchist friends who are
committed to a thoroughgoing nonviolence a bad name.
I can say with certain assurance that my friend and
neighbor, Linda Clare Breitag, along with her daughter Sophia Breitag, who were
charged with “third-degree riot” and held in your jail for two nights acted
with the best of intentions as white allies and their treatment and jailing
brings disgrace and shame to your great city. Yes, I expect both of you to take
a stand defending your police – especially when they are under physical attack
– while not falling into the trap of those who seek more chaos into our
seething racial cauldron.
I, too, question some of the tactics of some of the young
leadership of the Black Lives Matter movement – especially in blocking
interstate highways – but it is obvious (at least to me) that our previous
nonviolent tactics have so far not brought about the justice and brotherhood
(and sisterhood) that Dr. King died for almost 50 years ago. I am willing to
suspend my own preferences of tactical style to allow this new generation of
leadership to emerge as long as they continue to embrace nonviolence. We need
to find a way to separate out those few actors (in both the ranks of the police
as well as “protesters”) who seek violent confrontation rather than threat
de-escalation.
I don’t covet your difficult jobs – but surely both of you
could do better. Please, at the very least, drop the scurrilous charge of
“riot” while leaving at appropriate change of “failure to obey a lawful order”
or “impeding traffic on a highway” and recognize the important role that civil
disobedience has always played in social change in our nation.
Sincerely,
Steve
Clemens
2912 E. 24th
Street
Minneapolis,
MN 55406-1322
612-724-3255
steveclemens@gmail.com
