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Despite band's plea for peace, 102 arrested after Rage Against the Machine concert
Police ringed Target Center as political rockers Rage Against the Machine took the stage. .
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Even though fans who attended Wednesday's Rage Against the Machine concert were asked not to cause trouble when they left Target Center, scores of people didn't comply with the request.
Trouble did break out on downtown Minneapolis streets and police arrested 102 people who had attended the concert, according to the Joint Information Center which is coordinating security in connection with the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
Of those arrested, 87 people were tagged with misdemeanor offenses and released, 13 were booked into the Hennepin County Jail on misdemeanor offenses and subsequently released, and two people were arrested on gross misdemeanor probable cause and were still in jail this morning, a Joint Information Center spokeswoman said.
The offenders were generally tagged for unlawful assembly and obstructing traffic, the spokeswoman said.
According to police, the concert let out around 10:40 p.m. and some concertgoers began loitering around Target Center. Police in riot gear and holding batons were on hand in the event that trouble broke out. The peaceful standoff took a turn for the worst around midnight when clusters of people continued to clog 1st Avenue N. in the areas of 6th and 7th Streets N. An officer with a bullhorn warned that if the street were not cleared soon, a chemical irritant might be used to get people moving.
Many people then moved onto sidewalks, and the avenue was soon opened to traffic. But some scuffles followed, and by 12:30 p.m., about 102 more protesters had been arrested near the intersection of 2nd Avenue S. and S. 7th Street, police said.
TIM HARLOW
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