Post by Logan on Jun 5, 2016 5:37:59 GMT -6
Rashad Turner of Black Lives Matter St. Paul vows to 'build bridges'
Rashad Turner knows how to rile the establishment.
In the past 10 months, the demonstrations he’s led have shut down a gate at the State Fair and threatened to disrupt the Twin Cities Marathon, St. Paul’s Crashed Ice extravaganza and light-rail transit before a Vikings game. Some of the actions were denounced by Gov. Mark Dayton and all of them sent St. Paul leaders scrambling.
Just last week after a teenager’s arrest at Central High caused controversy, the president of the St. Paul Police Federation, David Titus, fired off a news release saying “social media in general, and Rashad Turner of Black Lives Matter St. Paul in particular, once again used video released without context to fuel the flames of an anti-cop sentiment that is irresponsible, inaccurate, and dangerous to St. Paul Police Officers and St. Paul residents alike.”
Yet Turner’s public persona is hard to reconcile with the private Turner, a soft-spoken, 31-year-old master’s degree student. As he tries to pivot from in-your-face activist to a campaign for the state House of Representatives — aiming to unseat the only black woman representative in the state — Turner wants to emphasize his diplomatic side, without shedding his rebel past.
“I really want to try and hone in and figure out how we can eliminate some of the social injustices that we see in law enforcement,” Turner said, noting he’s passionate about many issues, from education to housing.
Read more: www.startribune.com/rashad-turner-sets-sights-on-capitol-vows-to-build-bridges/381876471/#1
Rashad Turner knows how to rile the establishment.
In the past 10 months, the demonstrations he’s led have shut down a gate at the State Fair and threatened to disrupt the Twin Cities Marathon, St. Paul’s Crashed Ice extravaganza and light-rail transit before a Vikings game. Some of the actions were denounced by Gov. Mark Dayton and all of them sent St. Paul leaders scrambling.
Just last week after a teenager’s arrest at Central High caused controversy, the president of the St. Paul Police Federation, David Titus, fired off a news release saying “social media in general, and Rashad Turner of Black Lives Matter St. Paul in particular, once again used video released without context to fuel the flames of an anti-cop sentiment that is irresponsible, inaccurate, and dangerous to St. Paul Police Officers and St. Paul residents alike.”
Yet Turner’s public persona is hard to reconcile with the private Turner, a soft-spoken, 31-year-old master’s degree student. As he tries to pivot from in-your-face activist to a campaign for the state House of Representatives — aiming to unseat the only black woman representative in the state — Turner wants to emphasize his diplomatic side, without shedding his rebel past.
“I really want to try and hone in and figure out how we can eliminate some of the social injustices that we see in law enforcement,” Turner said, noting he’s passionate about many issues, from education to housing.
Read more: www.startribune.com/rashad-turner-sets-sights-on-capitol-vows-to-build-bridges/381876471/#1