A vigil and protest for a man who was fatally shot by a St. Paul police officer last week ended peacefully Sunday night after protesters marched from a police station to a memorial near the site of the shooting.
Protesters march for man fatally shot by St. Paul police officer a week ago
Officer fired after the armed man rammed his police SUV on Sept. 15, investigators say.
September 23, 2019 at 2:07AM
The protest started at 4:30 p.m. at the Police Department's Western District station at 389 Hamline Av. N. About 70 people then marched north on Hamline, then east on University toward the State Capitol.
At the corner of W. Thomas Avenue and N. Griggs Street, the site of the shooting, protesters stopped at a memorial for Ronald K. Davis. They then retraced their journey.
One of the marchers, Daphne Brown, sang "We are family" with the crowd, a song she said the Davis family especially likes.
The crowd carried red-and-black "Justice for Ronald Davis" posters. At the start of the protest, about a dozen speakers shared stories about Davis, 31 or recounted their experience with having a family member shot by police in St. Paul or elsewhere.
Authorities said officer Steven Mattson was stopped at the intersection of Thomas and Griggs just before 6 p.m. on Sept. 15 when a vehicle rear-ended his squad car.
An altercation ensued after Mattson and Davis, who was driving the car, got out of their vehicles, police said.
Davis ignored repeated commands to drop a knife, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and Mattson fired his gun. Davis died at the scene.
Chief Todd Axtell has said he'll release body-camera video Tuesday, "after the pertinent parts of BCA investigation are complete and Davis family has opportunity to view," according to a post on the Police Department's Twitter account Friday.
Erin Adler • 612-673-1781
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