I knew of plans to Occupy the 10th Ave Bridge in Minneapolis both from OccupyMpls and union connections. Unfortunately, I had taken too much time off earlier this week for various reasons to leave work early to go to it. But luckily for me, this bridge is practically in the backyard of the building I work in :-) so I just let my coworkers know I'd be taking a late break to catch the beginning of the action.
I also had time to get a few photos and begin marching on the bridge, see below the squiggle
The point of Bridge the Gap was to take a bridge that has deficiencies and also happens to be next to the 35W bridge that collapsed under Tim Pawlenty's reign, killing 13 people. This was to highlight the need to rebuild infrastructure and provide jobs, especially to people of color who have been harder hit by unemployment.
We gathered at Mondale Hall which houses the Law School at the U of M.
The sky may be bright blue and sunny but temps were near freezing, so I was glad to see a good sized crowd, it felt warmer!
Our speakers,whose names, I sadly did not catch, knew how to use the People's Mic effectively and got us more fired up
Then we turned the corner to approach the bridge
and about 400 of us took the bridge
when I ducked out to go back to work, the cops looked low key and all seemed orderly. However, I did hear later there had been arrests
http://www.kare11.com/...
These do sound like "cooperative" arrests, as in these people meant to get arrested to drive the point home and the cops played their part by doing their duty without going overboard with pepper spray and batons. More on the arrests from the Strib.
http://www.startribune.com/...
Most afternoon breaks find me doing yoga, but a little protesting is even more energizing :-) and I was there long enough to sign in and get a sticker