Philando Castile Protesters Nix Plea Deals in I-94 Shutdown

ST. PAUL -- Most of the 50 people charged in a protest that shut down Interstate 94 in St. Paul over the police shooting of Philando Castile have rejected plea deals.

They made their first appearances Friday in Ramsey County District Court. The city offered a plea bargain in which each protester's riot and unlawful assembly charges would be dropped in return for a guilty plea to public nuisance, with a fine of $50 and a 30-day stayed sentence.

All but one of the protesters opted to continue their cases instead and schedule second hearings for this fall.

Around 300 protesters blocked I-94 in St. Paul on July 9 in protest of the shooting of Castile by a police officer in Falcon Heights three nights earlier.