Black Lives Matter to disrupt Twin Cities Marathon (1 Viewer)

[NCCommish]

That Ashley chick needs to be running things at BLM. Whoever came up with this awful idea and is now doubling down is going to torpedo the whole thing and lose tons of support, especially among non-blacks who are the ones they really need.

Their cause I think is 100% just and way overdue, and it's appropriate for them to be angry. Anyone who has watched the Tamir Rice video or any of the other videos should be angry that these cops are not in jail. But all this will do is delegitimize the very real complaints and detract from their purpose.

Whoever is calling the shots needs to be replaced immediately.

Spot on

 

[Ditka Butkus]

Disrupt and throw a hissy fit, that ought to help the cause.

 

[comfortably numb]

That Ashley chick needs to be running things at BLM. Whoever came up with this awful idea and is now doubling down is going to torpedo the whole thing and lose tons of support, especially among non-blacks who are the ones they really need.

Their cause I think is 100% just and way overdue, and it's appropriate for them to be angry. Anyone who has watched the Tamir Rice video or any of the other videos should be angry that these cops are not in jail. But all this will do is delegitimize the very real complaints and detract from their purpose.

Whoever is calling the shots needs to be replaced immediately.

Spot on

Yep.

Always said this even during the riots in Baltimore and Ferguson.

You want to make a point about police brutality?

Go protest and throw rocks at police stations....heck go to police chiefs house...go to the governors house.

Take the cause to the people that can make a change and are held partially responsible for the issues you are protesting.

But to just go outside your house and to start burning down the only businesses that have the balls to open up in your hood is just plain ignorant and shows you don't care about the issue but more concerned about wanting to have a reason to act up.

 

[Bull Dozier]

St. Paul Mayor asks Police to "Keep all options on the table" to prevent disruption

Now leaders of Black Lives Matter in Saint Paul have stated their intent to ‘shut down the Twin Cities Marathon.’

While we are no less committed to the right to peacefully protest, these threatened actions pose an unacceptable risk to runners, spectators and protesters themselves. To paraphrase an old adage, the right of anyone to protest ends at another's nose, or, in this case, someone else's feet.

Therefore, I have asked Chief Smith to keep all options on the table to prevent disruption of the race or prevent runners from finishing the marathon.

Wait, I thought their intent was to protest at the Marathon. Now they want to shut it down entirely?

Well, they want to block the finish line and prevent the runners from reaching the finish line. I think that would constitute shutting it down if successful), even if they didn't prevent it from starting.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Great to see the city finally come out and say what needed to be said. Hopefully there are no problems.

 

[TobiasFunke]

Disrupt and throw a hissy fit, that ought to help the cause.

You'd think watching the GOP Congress for the last 5 years would be enough to show them that this strategy doesn't work.

 

[Sand]

St. Paul Mayor asks Police to "Keep all options on the table" to prevent disruption

Now leaders of Black Lives Matter in Saint Paul have stated their intent to ‘shut down the Twin Cities Marathon.’

While we are no less committed to the right to peacefully protest, these threatened actions pose an unacceptable risk to runners, spectators and protesters themselves. To paraphrase an old adage, the right of anyone to protest ends at another's nose, or, in this case, someone else's feet.

Therefore, I have asked Chief Smith to keep all options on the table to prevent disruption of the race or prevent runners from finishing the marathon.

Wait, I thought their intent was to protest at the Marathon. Now they want to shut it down entirely?

They've stated the goal is to stop runners from finishing. It was in their press release.

Yes, that's it. People being disrespected is the issue of the day. You nailed it! It's not that it's the state that is being disrespectful to a black woman, which some people see as yet another example of a long and obvious pattern of racial discrimination by law enforcement. It's just about someone being disrespected.

You come into a thread like this expecting to find near-unanimity in opposition to this protest. But no, someone's always willing to go the extra mile and say something absurd/disingenuous, like calling protesters "terrorists" or totally removing context in characterizing the reason for the protest.

Not to devolve in this thread, but you completely misread this. IMO, there is a lot of validity to parts of the BLM cause. There just tends to be generally poor choices as to what cases to point out as being wrong in law enforcement activities.

And while I certainly don't think these protesters are terrorists I do think that choosing a marathon where violence may occur is an extremely bad choice with the memories of Boston. I guarantee the mainstream media, if there is a clash between protesters and runners, will mention some comparison to Boston in the first sentence of their story.

 

[17seconds]

THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!!

How much do you think it costs to fly to Minnesota and stay in a hotel downtown the weekend of the race?

That's a ####### "you" problem. Is Minneapolis the only city with marathons? No. Stay close to home and run in one of the many many marathons offered locally. Good lord. Even if somebody does fly in and stay in a hotel, they aren't going to be physically harmed.

I'm going to Chicago in two weeks to run a marathon. Probably the only one I will run in my lifetime. So for me, this is a once in a lifetime event. I've trained three years for this. Spent lots of time training. Have spent a fair amount on running gear. I will spend a fair amount on this trip to Chicago.Could I run a race here in KC? Sure. But going to another city to do this benefits my wife and I. We get to spend some well deserved time together away from our kids, which we haven't had for years.

And if something like this threatened the safety of myself and my wife, AND had the possibility of violence not 1 mile from what I trained three years for, then I would be seriously pissed.

Domestic terrorism - I don't know, probably a strong word for it. But to dismiss those who could be affected like this and treat this as a trivial event for thousands of people who are in this thing....

Man.

Never run a marathon; have done a few halfs and 10ks....outside of shoes, what is your biggest expense?Seems like the only benefit you are describing is a break from the kids. And I get that; I have five of them. But there are dozens of races I can participate in each year that don't require extensive travel. Sounds like Chicago is more of a getaway for you than a race. And that's cool, but don't act like the possibility of protesters would ruin three years of training. Sounds like you are reaching for outrage.

But ...it would. Pretty simple.

Run past them. Run around them. Stop being so terminally afraid of vocal black people. The race is still on. Cops are everywhere. Man up and run it, Sally.

This has nothing to do with their cause. It has to do with disrupting a race you spent months training for and are giving every ounce of effort you have to complete. You say you've done half marathons, but that is nothing like a full marathon. It's very hard to run around blockades when you are 20+ miles in, and I'd be pissed if anybody delayed my race more than 30 seconds whether they were Black Lives Matter, Westboro Church, or just some drunk college kids who are crossing over the course.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Updated Information on Protest at Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon

Dear Runners,

Today, St. Paul city officials advised us to continue the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon as planned, reinforcing their goal is to ensure that runners are able to safely finish the race. City officials have said they will not tolerate any actions that compromise the marathon, its runners, spectators, or its success.

With crisp fall weather expected, St. Paul city officials have encouraged runners and spectators to come out and plan to enjoy a great day. We look forward welcoming everyone to the 34th annual Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Weekend and are proud to be the host of this great community tradition.

Sincerely,

Twin Cities In Motion

Glad they're going forward with this as planned. Hopefully the police will have things under control on race day, and nobody will do anything stupid.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Team world vision has a huge presence at the twin cities marathon. Something like 300 runners.

The thought of Black Lives Matter stopping people from running that are raising money to bring clean water and food to starving kids in Africa seemed a bit ironic to me.

 

[fantasycurse42]

Look at that free plug for Medtronic

 

[jonessed]

If they act out physically, it sounds like they will be dealt with by police.

Odd, since that's what they are protesting against in the first place.

I don't think it is odd, I think that is exactly what they are after. The way they have protested (at least around the Twin Cities) seems to be an obvious bait for the police to treat them physically. They annouce something like this so they have everyone's attention, and then act in a way that requires a physical confrontation. All so they can say "see, we were right, the police treat us poorly!"

I dont agree with their tactics, but I havent seen anything close to this in their Twin City protests.

Requires was the wrong word. How about invites? Having a sit in at the MOA where it is dissallowed. Walking down a freeway, refusing to leave. Historically, these have been met with physical removal of the protesters, but not here.

They were allowed to walk down a freeway? Bizarre. They weren't even allowed to do that in Oakland. They were yanked pretty quickly.

When they blocked the freeway, didn't they use their cars to slow down and stop and then go out and protested?

Oakland or Minnesota??In Minnesota .. No.. they started a march along the freeway and continued down a ramp .. The State patrol decided that instead of forcing them back up the ramp they would just close down the freeway until they reached their destination..

Many of us said back then this move was just going to make them feel empowered to disobey the law and they have proven us right( MOA, Light Rail)..

Until Minnesota "grows some" and says enough is enough they will continue.

I don't think they used cars in Oakland. They walked up the ramp and stopped traffic. It was feasible because it was during the commute. Traffic was already slow.

I believe the police did have to shut down that portion of the freeway to arrest them though.

 

[Cjw_55106]

Gov. Mark Dayton, who has been critical of Black Lives Matters' methods, said Wednesday that he offered to meet with their activists but was told that would be "counterproductive."

 

[Bull Dozier]

Gov. Mark Dayton, who has been critical of Black Lives Matters' methods, said Wednesday that he offered to meet with their activists but was told that would be "counterproductive."

Counterproductive? I could see it if they were to say that would be unproductive, but if they are saying that would be counterproductive it is obvious they have no intentions of being reasonable.

 

[Dark Matter]

Update?

 

[sports_fan]

Update?

Basically nothing happened.

A protest against police brutality that originally sparked consternation with talk of "shutting down" the Twin Cities Marathon passed without incident Sunday, with protesters firmly cordoned off from runners even as they demonstrated nearby.

Traffic on a few streets was blocked as the group marched, but the marathon wasn't disrupted and police made no arrests.

continued...

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Borrrrrrrrrrriiiiinnnnng

 

[Jobber]

Good. Hats off to BLM for not ruining a nice event.

 

[avoiding injuries]

Expectations are awfully low for blm if we are tipping our hats to them for only blocking a few streets while they were firmly cordoned off from runners.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Gov. Mark Dayton, who has been critical of Black Lives Matters' methods, said Wednesday that he offered to meet with their activists but was told that would be "counterproductive."

Aren't most govenors?

 

[chauncey]

I bet there were a lot of PRs at this race, negative splits, etc.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Expectations are awfully low for blm if we are tipping our hats to them for only blocking a few streets while they were firmly cordoned off from runners.

They have every right to protest and have their voice heard, like everybody else. I have no objection to them hitching their proverbial wagon to the marathon since it's a significant local event for MSP. But they need to be separated from spectators and runners so that nobody does something stupid, and I don't just mean the BLM people. This was handled perfectly IMO.