Thousands protest in Minnesota after officer acquitted in death of Philando Castile

Read More – Not guilty: Minnesota jury acquits officer who shot Philando Castile 

After the verdict on Friday, Castile’s mother, Valerie Castile, spoke outside the courtroom, saying Yanez got away with murder, but he “will not get away with divine justice.”

“The system continues to fail black people and they will continue to fail you all,” Valerie said. 

A crowd gathered on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol, with #Justice4Philando organizing an event, calling for the community to come together “to protest this failure of justice!”

At 8:30pm local time, the protesters left the capitol to march down University Avenue to the nearby St. Paul Cathedral and back. The protesters left a sign at the Capitol building that read, “The system is guilty.” 

Protesters shouted, “Hands up, don’t shoot,” and “This is what democracy looks like,” while holding signs that read “Black lives matter,” next to signs that read, “Blue lies matter.” 

During the march, Unicorn Riot, an independent media collective, reported that a spy plane was circling around downtown St. Paul, where the protesters were marching.

The protesters stayed together, making sure that none of the protesters walked too far ahead or fell behind. Every few minutes, they would stop and do a “mic check” while they marched.

Just after 9:00pm, St. Paul Police estimated a crowd of 1,500 marchers were blocking both sides of University Avenue at Western Avenue.

Mass Transit announced that all Green Line trains stopped operating east of Snelling Avenue due to the demonstrations.

At 9:40pm, the police estimated that the crowds had grown to 2,000 marchers as they turned on Victoria from University. 

Along the route, the protesters went over a bridge that crosses the I-94 freeway. 

Organizers began directing traffic around the protests as the marchers turned onto Shelby street before they planned to return to the Capitol.