Disapproval of police officer actions focus of Saturday’s march

A march protesting the actions of some members of the Minden Police Department has been planned for Saturday, the same day Minden will be holding its Fasching Fifth Season Festival.

Organizers said the peaceful protest would begin and end at Woo’s Barber Shop after winding through downtown Minden, the site of the festival.

According to a release announcing the protest, marchers will depart at 1 p.m. from Woo’s Barber Shop on Martin Luther King Drive and proceed to Sheppard Street. The route will continue to Lee Street, then to Broadway.

Marchers will head east on Broadway to its intersection with East Union, turn on East Union and move to Gum Street, then back to Martin Luther King Drive and Woo’s Barber Shop.

“We want to stress that this is not a protest against the entire Minden Police Department, only against some
members of the police department,” Pastor Sam Mims who helped organize the march said. “I know some officers will be offended, but it’s important to understand that not every officer is part of this problem.”

Mims said two families came to him and presented cases where circumstances seemed to indicate some Minden police officers were “policing some folks unfairly, perhaps more aggressively and sometimes unprofessionally.”

“They asked if I would help organize a protest to make that point. I said I would and that I would make sure it was orderly and peaceful,” Mims said. “We made the announcement on Facebook and other social media and learned other people in town feel the same way.”

Mims said he was familiar with the two incidents, which caused the families to seek him out for assistance.
“Between the two … this just isn’t the way things ought to be,” he said. “What happens down the road? I can’t answer that, but I would say it depends on the response to what happens Saturday.”

Minden Chief of Police Steve Cropper said he was also aware of the incidents at the root of the planned protest.
And, he added, he had spoken to one of the individuals organizing the march.

“In the incidents we spoke about, I believe our officers followed the law and adhered to department policy and procedure,” Cropper said.