I have a dear South DaCola Soldier who lives out of state (but is from here) that frequents the various ‘city’ cams. She decided to take screenshots Sunday night as things unfolded and leaves us with some great commentary;
I watched the 41st street web cam and the Falls cam a lot. Â I happened to look at the 41st street web cam Sunday night just as the cops were arriving. It was one cop with his car blocking traffic and I wondered what was going on. Â As I watched more cops come and then the protestors.
After reading your page and the comments decided to send the pictures, maybe you are interested in them.
8:59 PM SF time
9 PM SF Time
Now they have turned right and gone down the street by the car dealer. I think that street is Louise.  The cops have 41 st  blocked so they can’t continue down 41 st.
9:16 pm, they are now all on the sidewalk. 9:18 and the cops are gone and so are the most of the protestors/walkers. The last of them went left through the parking lot or maybe it is part of the car dealer on what I think is Louise Ave.
9:23 pm and they are done.
Whoever is in charge of the camera moved it at least three times towards the stores, Menswear and the restaurant, but couldn’t see any people and the person moved the camera back to looking at 41st. Thought it was interesting, I am pretty sure there was a person watching that had control of the camera. (The mayor said later in an radio interview the EOC was watching)
9:09Â pm
9:12 pm
9:15 pm coming to an end.
Your Honor, I rest my case.
That said, the one thing that we need to be concerned about is that there were not two protests, a peaceful one and a violent one, or the Van Epps one and the Mall one, rather there were three protests. The third protest was when people started to wall north on Minnesota Avenue, then west on Russell Street, then south on Prairie Street, then east on 6th Street, then south on Minnesota Avenue again, and this third protest was not sanctioned, was it? It was not a part of the initial Van Epps permitted protest plan, was it? So when protesters took over Minnesota Avenue and the other streets in that area, that was plain and simple non permitted civil disobedience, was it not, but non violent, right?
Then, it is my understanding from what I pieced together from the Argus’s live streaming of the protesters on Minnesota Avenue and other streets as well and what my 93-year-old mother could see from her TouchMark apartment on 18th, is that at some point the southbound demonstration on Minnesota Avenue split up with some turning around and heading north again, while the rest continued south on Minnesota and then became the group who eventually made it to the Mall. Am I correct about that?
Well, regardless, this third protest is a problem, because it was spontaneous and peaceful initially and could invite more protests in the not too distant future if a negative spin or fear could not be put into the minds of citizens about such protesting. Thus, I will allege the strategy to usher the protesters to the Mall afforded authorities an opportunity to end that protest as well as other future protests in the not too distant future by putting a stain on them by the events that could inevitably or would obviously happen at a shopping mall.
Thus, the Mall strategy was bait to end future protests by staining the image of such protests. Because heaven forbid that the protesters be allowed to continue onto 41st and block the interstate as a significant, peaceful, and winning show of protest and civil disobedience against the establishment, right?
Now, some may say this is far flung, but it’s not, when you have a president who recently used force against a peaceful group of demonstrators in DC at Lafayette Square, or when you have a South Dakota governor who is more than eager to refer to protesters as a mob. Or better yet, when establishment figures in town are promoting a rumor about three buses of protesters from Fargo that were coming for the Sunday protest in Sioux Falls.
So, the policing of the 41st/Mall protest was a hijacking of not only that protest, but also the capability of any future protest in the not so distant future for the citizens of Sioux Falls due to a created image concerning protesting, which the police, in my opinion, orchestrated.
“…which the police and local political leaders, in my opinion, orchestrated.”
LEOs did not place a stain on the image of this protest, nor the image of protests in the not too distant future.
The image with which I was left, rising above the vandalism and looting (which was minor in comparison to the wreckage in other cities) – a resolute group of peaceful protestors who locked arms to face the crowd in front of LEOs.
These people exacted their will for a peaceful demonstration on the crowd at a couple of critical moments. Without their efforts, that situation does not end nearly as well … for anyone.
The ‘mall strategy’ offered to these peaceful protestors the opportunity to lead the final portion of the protest. Some would say they failed because because of some broken windows snd that the police needed to intervene to disperse the crowd.
Without the efforts of those who wanted the protest to remain peaceful, that situation does not end nearly as well.
Their depth of conviction and action gives me hope for the future. That group is gonna’ figure out and fix the stuff my generation is leaving broken.
I still can’t believe this happened in Sioux Falls. It seemed organized from outside. It’s not the culture here. If there’s something notable it’s biracial children prominence in schools. Blacks (most) are accepted but there’s room for further improvement. Let’s get back to normal. Our attention should be on taking care of patients from the pandemic and the starving unemployed from the resulting economic decline.
Yes they did. Listen, between COVID-19 and this current situation, political and business leaders are concerned about firing up the economy once again, and the thought of having further peaceful and spontaneous protests would have only further frustrated their economic game plan.
Protesters were channeled to a shopping center with rocks.
“Without the efforts of those who wanted the protest to remain peaceful, that situation does not end nearly as well.”
That’s right, without them, the ‘mall strategy’ orchestrated by law enforcement would have been worse. Yet, the establishment in town got what they wanted, didn’t they, which was an end to protests due to the new image of them? People will remember the rocks longer, then the locked arms protecting the police.
Here is a good story about the protest in SF;
https://thepostmillennial.com/sioux-falls-rioters-were-mostly-teens?fbclid=IwAR150dh-vQBoyohbV3zOn7ULH3Uzt2o4ZvNhbwCUp41MH4n1RQ_SCPEB-qU
Yah, there is this new narrative being thrown around both by this article and a recent Inside Keloland piece, that we have failed our children, but when you channel those so called children into a mall, what do you expect? If you give alcohol to a minor, as an adult, who is really at fault?
Minneapolis was a case of murder, the situation in Buffalo, New York, right now, is a case of abuse, and what happen in Sioux Falls, as a protest was channeled to the Empire Mall, is an example of manipulation by the establishment in this town, so that they could re-form and control the narrative of all of Sundays events, and prevent future protests all for the sake of economic redevelopment (after many COVID closures) and its attached image.
If you drive down Louise right now, next to the Empire Mall, you will notice that all of the entrances to the mall along Louise Avenue have been closed off. Perhaps, authorities have learned that it’s not a smart idea to channel our children to a mall during a protest or a potential future protest.