Demonstrators and city leaders struggled Tuesday for control of one of Minneapolis' busiest streets, 12 days after the law enforcement killing of Winston Boogie Smith Jr. and two days after a protester was killed by a speeding driver.
Smith's death during an attempted arrest by U.S. marshals — who were not wearing body cameras — launched daily protests at the Uptown intersection of Lake Street and Girard Avenue.
Protester Deona Knajdek was killed in the zone Sunday when a driver collided with another car being used as a roadblock to prevent vehicles from driving into demonstrations in the middle of the street.
On Monday night and Tuesday morning, protesters succeeded in barricading graffitied streets with upturned lampposts, wooden pallets and construction signs. Trash bags heaped in alleys prevented traffic from entering the protest zone from the north and south.
Two dozen protesters "held space" in the barricaded zone Tuesday morning as city workers directed traffic around the area. Some cooked out near a makeshift memorial to Smith. Small groups of people chased away news crews attempting to report on the developing occupation.
Police arrived about 1 p.m. Tuesday and took away the roadblocks. Protesters sent out calls for reinforcements across social media. Dozens more people showed up as police finished clearing the streets, and they soon began to rebuild the barricades.
The area remained closed to traffic Tuesday afternoon. But Mayor Jacob Frey said the city would clear the roadway and said the city would not "abandon" Uptown.
At 8:30 p.m., law enforcement swarmed the intersection of Lake Street and Girard from the west and east, removing the barricades and arresting more than a dozen protesters. Later in the night, officers on foot and bicycle monitored the crowd.
