Hundreds of students walked out of class Tuesday to protest the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Amir Locke, a Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police serving a no-knock warrant at an apartment downtown.
Locke was not the subject of the warrant.
The demonstration, organized by the student organization MN Teen Activists, began at St. Paul Central High School at noon. Attendees gathered there before marching to the governor's residence for a rally at about 1 p.m.
The activists said they are demanding the resignations of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman and Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, as well as the demilitarization of Minneapolis police.
Several Black students spoke about the traumatic impact of seeing constant news coverage of people who look like their fathers, uncles, brothers and cousins killed.
"We never get to experience full comfortability no matter who we are or who we are with," Grace Mutombo said.
Some students from Benilde-St. Margaret's in St. Louis Park, including Raphael Johnson-Nixon and Deandre Mayaka, got a ride to the protest.
"I'm tired of seeing Black men who look like me killed for no reason," Johnson-Nixon said.
Mayaka added: "I find it really unsettling how someone of our skin color has to be aware of what they're doing, how they're presenting at all times."
Outside the governor's residence, protest organizers told the crowd they were impressed by the turnout after making the call to walk out two days ago. And they stressed the importance of protest.
"If we stop, they're going to keep killing us," said Ezra Hudson, a co-founder of MN Teen Activists. "They don't care."
Tuesday's protest follows similar demonstrations over the weekend in response to Locke's killing.
On Sunday, demonstrators gathered in front of the home of interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman and called for her resignation.
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