"Need a quick five? Enjoy a seat on the skyway."
The news of Christopher Lollie's arrest went viral last week, after he posted video of
being violently arrested by St. Paul police. It started when a security officer from First National Bank of St. Paul called police to complain Lollie was loitering and trespassing. Christopher Lollie says he was merely resting for 10 minutes, waiting for his children. He says he had only been seated for 2 minutes before security started hassling him to move. He insisted he'd done nothing to warrant police attention and there was no signage indicating it was an "employee only area" as First National Bank security and police insisted. Nevertheless, while talking with police, within sight of his children's school, he was was tased and arrested.
Outraged readers flocked to the First National Bank of St. Paul Facebook page to voice their displeasure and several readers noticed a 2009 photo of the seating area with the caption, "Need a quick five? Enjoy a seat on the skyway." The photo has since been deleted.
While there has been some debate over whether that particular seating area is public or private, the skyway system in St. Paul is definitely public:
St. Paul's skyway system was started in 1967. Unlike Minneapolis, the skyways in St. Paul are publicly owned. Although Donaldson's Department Store is credited by some to have the first skyway in the Twin Cities in 1951, it was nothing more than an elevated bridge to their parking ramp.
In 1967, a skyway was built to connect the Pioneer Press to the Federal Courts building, thus ushering in St. Paul's true skyway system. By 1977, there were nine skyways in downtown St. Paul.
Currently, St. Paul now has more than 5 miles of skyway connecting 30 blocks.
Over the weekend, Chris Lollie sat down for an extensive interview with
Filter Free Amerika. During the interview he says that he has filed an official complaint with the St. Paul police and he plans on meeting with a lawyer to discuss further legal options. You can see the entire interview below the fold.