U of M students call for police changes at rally on Gabel's lawn
A group of University of Minnesota students held a protest outside university President Joan Gabel's home to call for more police accountability on campus.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Student activists took their message straight to University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel’s home in St. Paul to call for more police accountability on campus.
"We chose her mansion because it’s harder to ignore us on her front lawn," said Andy Oien of Students for Democratic Society. "If she thinks we’re being annoying now, she hasn’t seen anything yet."
The afternoon-long demonstration Friday was organized by the U of M’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. The group has called for the "demilitarization" of the University of Minnesota Police Department as well as student control of the force through a campus police accountability council.
Other organizations have recently called for the resignation of UMPD Chief Matt Clark after his officers assisted with the law enforcement response to unrest in Brooklyn Center following the deadly traffic stop shooting of Daunte Wright.
University leaders stated in a letter to the student government association that university police officers made no arrests and used no crowd control agents, including pepper spray, tear gas, or any other munition.
Some at Friday’s protest insisted after the killings of Wright and George Floyd, the policing system is broken and beyond repair.
"It’s adding up," said Nadia Shaarawi of Students for a Democratic Society. "We’re not seeing any transparency or accountability from the University, from Joan Gabel specifically who has taken charge in finding these solutions."
While the U of M declined to respond to student demands on camera Friday, President Gabel and other university leaders have previously proclaimed their support for Chief Clark. They have pointed out UMPD is part of a joint Hennepin County law enforcement task force that has agreed to send mutual aid to another communities or agencies in times of emergency.
Thursday, President Gabel said the university will be conducting a policy review of the university police department's mutual aid response.