Racist Prison Guards Harass Protesters (More)

On Friday, April 23rd, two days before the n-word laced aggression from Stillwater correctional officer Paul Gorder and his wife, Gorder confronted activists who were demanding justice for Daunte Wright. Black Live Matter Twin Cities Metro sent us video of this previous confrontation.

Before the video, Gorder had aggressively harassed protesters. Only leaving when a man he knew calmed him and walked him away from the crowd.

Gorder then stopped activists as they were leaving. He claimed to apologize. For his “apology”, Gorder wore a Punisher shirt and a mask that evokes the thin blue line flag. Both are symbols used by racist and white supremacists to support violent policing and deny that Black Lives Matter.

After finally leaving activists be, in the second video, he rushes back at them, swearing and being aggressive. Two days later, he would be pushing into the protesters again, screaming, flipping people off, and threatening violence.

Link to our original article on Gorder:

On April 17th, at a different protest in Stillwater, another man who had worked as a correction officer at Stillwater prison, Earl Shim, drove his vehicle aggressively at protesters, jumped out of his car, swore, shoved people, and flipped the crowd off. Shim only left when detained by police.

It seems an unstated risk of living near a prison is neighborhoods full of unhinged correctional officers who are angered by cries of justice for Black men.

Photo credit: Emma Leigh Sron

Video credit: Black Lives Matter Twin Cities Metro