Joshua Lawrence is arrested by St. Paul police after he and about 20 protesters refused to move from in front of the Governor's Residence on Summit Ave. in St. Paul on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

16-year old Tayvion Owens is maced by St. Paul police as they and protesters face off on Summit Avenue a block from the Governor's Residence in St. Paul on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. Tim Nelson, a Minnesota Public Radio reporter at left, was also maced. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Jason Sole speaks to St. Paul police as they form a line across Summit Ave., a block from the Governor's Residence, in St. Paul on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

D'Nice, (no last name given) is arrested by St. Paul police as they and protesters face off on Summit Avenue in St. Paul Tuesday. ( Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Sarah Kylman of Chicago awaits arrest by St. Paul police in front of the Governor's Residence in St. Paul on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)



Wintana Melekin speaks her mind to a line of St. Paul police as police and protesters face off on Summit Avenue, a block from the Governor's Residence, in St. Paul Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Minnesota Public Radio reporter Tim Nelson lies on the grass after being maced in the face by St. Paul police while reporting on the story, as police and protesters face off on Summit Avenue on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Tayvion Ownes, 16, pours milk into his eyes after being sprayed in the face with mace by St. Paul police, as police and protesters face off on Summit Avenue Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

An unidentified protester is attended to after being maced in the face and eyes as police and protesters face off on Summit Avenue Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

St. Paul Police lead a young boy away after the two people on each side of him, presumably his mother and father, were handcuffed and arrested as police and protesters face off in front of the Governor's Residence on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)



Protesters pack up sleeping bags, bedding and other belongings after police told them them must remove their stuff from the street and sidewalk in front of the Governor's Residence on Summit Avenue in St. Paul on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. Police told protesters that they must remove their stuff, stay out of the street and not block the sidewalk. Vehicles were allowed into the blocked off area to pick up belongings and take them away. A handful of protesters were still sitting in front of the entrance to the building at 10:00 a.m. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

St. Paul police officers watch from across the street as protesters, encamped in front of the Governor's Residence on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, pack up their belongings on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. Police told protesters that they must remove their stuff, stay out of the street and not block the sidewalks. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Tyler Clark Edwards of St. Paul raises his fist in the air in front of a large photo of Philando Castile, as protesters encamped in front of the Governor's Residence in St. Paul pack up their belongings July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Lavenna Ransom of St. Paul picks up sleeping pads in front of the Governor's Residence. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

St. Paul police talk with protesters encamped in front of the Governor's Residence. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)



Protesters load their belongings into cars that were allowed into the blocked off area. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Sleeping bags and bedding are packed up as protesters remain in front of the Governor's Residence. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Curtis Avent, right, speaks with St. Paul police about meeting their demands. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Police buses used to take away arrested people wait down the block from the Governor's Residence. St. Paul police took several protesters into custody on Summit Avenue this morning outside the GovernorÕs Residence as they seek to reopen the street to motorists. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)





While handcuffed inside a police bus with 19 other protesters, Sarah Kylman of Chicago passes along names of those detained as protesters faced off with St. Paul police on Summit Avenue in St. Paul on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Protesters chant "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" to a line of St. Paul Police during a face off on Summit Avenue Tuesday, July 26, 2016. ( Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

St. Paul Police Commander Josh Lego and Nekima Levy-Pounds, President of the Minneapolis NAACP, talk with each other, as police try to reopen Summit Avenue Tuesday, July 26, 2016. The location has been the focal point of 20 days of protests after the fatal shooting of Philando Castile by a St. Anthony police officer during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights on July 6. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Kathleen Riley, who lives in the neighborhood, carries a Black Lives Matter sign as police and protesters face off on Summit Avenue Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

St. Paul Police form a perimeter and one by one arrest protesters refusing to leave the sidewalk in front of the Governor's Residence in St. Paul, Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)



Brian Allen shouts at a line of police officers during a face off on Summit Avenue near the Governor's Residence on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

St. Paul Police use their nightsticks to move a protester as they try to clear Summit Avenue on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

People embrace as protesters face off with St. Paul police on Summit Avenue near the the Governor's Residence on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Harris Alworth, left, assists a man after he was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant during protests on Summit Avenue outside the Governor's Residence Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Sixteen-year-old Tayvion Owens douses his face and eyes with milk after police sprayed him with a chemical irritant near the Governor's Residence on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)



An unidentified protester is led away with his hands restrained behind his back as St. Paul police and protesters face off on Summit Avenue in front of the Governor's Residence on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Roberta Olson of St. Paul waves to a bus leaving with 20 arrested protesters including her son Simon, on Summit Avenue Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

St. Paul police arrested about 70 people Tuesday and early Wednesday near the Governor’s Residence on Summit Avenue in a day and night marked by tense standoffs and groups of protesters being driven to jail in buses.

The location has been the focal point of protests for 20 days, beginning just after a St. Anthony police officer fatally shot Philando Castile in Falcon Heights the night of July 6. Police shut down Summit Avenue in front of the residence for about a week and a half and then reopened it, but protesters closed it down again Sunday night.

The street and sidewalks outside the mansion, from Milton Street to Lexington Parkway, remained closed Wednesday morning.

The arrests began Tuesday morning, after police made an attempt to reopen the avenue.

Mayor Chris Coleman said it started out peacefully but some protesters became uncooperative.

“Some folks became defiant, a few folks became quite frankly dangerous,” Coleman said. “…It became very clear that for some of those folks endangering folks was exactly what they wanted to do, including throwing things at passing cars when we tried to open up the street again.”

Water bottles and cigarettes were thrown, according to police.

But Nekima Levy-Pounds, Minneapolis NAACP president, said police officers had “used military force unnecessarily against non violent peaceful demonstrators.”

“We have to stand our ground as a people and continue to rise up and fight against oppression,” Levy-Pounds said. “… They want us to go about our daily lives, they want us to forget about Philando Castile, but the reality is that that man did not deserve to die.”

INITIALLY NO ARRESTS

Police arrived at the encampment shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday and told about 40 protesters — many of whom were sleeping in the street and the sidewalk — they would have to stop blocking traffic and leave the area so it could be cleared of debris.

Protesters carrying belongings from encampment in front of Governor's Residence now. pic.twitter.com/UH0XDUnoRP — Mara Gottfried (@MaraGottfried) July 26, 2016

After a police commander and protest organizers talked throughout the morning, the commander told one of the leaders, Curtis Avent, at about 10:30 a.m. that they would not make arrests as long as people did not block the street or sidewalk, and they stayed “within the laws and ordinances.”

Organizer Curtis Avent says #PhilandoCastile protesters won't be leaving from front of Governor's Residence. pic.twitter.com/iLeNo23RRr — Mara Gottfried (@MaraGottfried) July 26, 2016

City crews came through to pick up trash and clean the street. Then at 10:45 a.m., a group of officers rushed across the street to the front of the Governor’s Residence and soon forcibly arrested five people.

It happened because a protester threw a temporary “No parking” sign, which had been posted on the side of the road, into the street, said Steve Linders, St. Paul police spokesman. Demonstrators linked arms as they saw a large number of officers approaching, Avent said.

“We linked up in solidarity to tell them that we’re not going to let them arrest him,” Avent said. “At that point, (the officers) physically became abusive.”

One of the people arrested has cerebral palsy, Avent said. Police officers “had his arms winched so far behind his back,” Avent said. “The whole time he’s letting them know he’s handicapped, that they should not be him arresting him like that, that he will go peacefully.”

Many people captured the tense moments on video. Officers had to carry out the arrests as they did because, Linders said, as “officers attempted to arrest the individual who threw city property into the street, other people tried to protect that person from being arrested.”

ARRESTS CONTINUE

Police officers retreated and reopened Summit Avenue at 11 a.m. Tuesday. But by 11:30 a.m., police closed Summit Avenue again between Chatsworth and Oxford streets and a group of officers headed toward the Governor’s Residence.

Police have about 20 people sitting on the sidewalk. Handful of people standing in the street. pic.twitter.com/aAnW7NKBzn — Mara Gottfried (@MaraGottfried) July 26, 2016

A police commander announced, “This is an unlawful assembly, you are under arrest” and told people to sit down. Officers arrested 17 people without incident.

Then, as a crowd gathered at Summit and Oxford, police officers formed a line to keep them from going toward the Governor’s Residence.

Chanting, "If Philando don't get it, shut it down." pic.twitter.com/ZJja2G0wWC — Mara Gottfried (@MaraGottfried) July 26, 2016

At about 1 p.m., there was a small group on the other side of the line of officers at the intersection. Another line of officers holding batons in front of them and walking in formation chanted, “Move back,” and sprayed a burst of chemical irritant. A 16-year-old in the group was sprayed in the face.

Meanwhile, outside the Governor’s Residence, Minnesota State Patrol troopers were removing the large number of signs which demonstrators had hung along the fence.

The State Patrol is responsible for security at the Governor’s Residence and a St. Paul police spokesman said they made any decisions about the signs. The troopers were assisting St. Paul police in the cleanup of the encampment, according to a Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesman.

At 2:10 p.m., the line of St. Paul police officers blocking Summit at Oxford retreated, and protesters again headed to the Governor’s Residence and gathered in front. They quickly hung a “Black Lives Matter” sign on the front gate and then one that said, “Unite for Philando.”

Police opened Summit Avenue at 2:30 p.m., but quickly closed it again.

SUMMIT OPENED, CLOSED AGAIN

Police arrested or cited people for charges ranging from obstructing legal process to disorderly conduct to unlawful assembly to public nuisance. Arrests are “a last resort for us,” said St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell. He and Coleman said the city is committed to balancing people’s First Amendment rights to peacefully protest with ensuring public safety.

This is the message @mayorcoleman sent to neighbors of Governor's Residence on Monday. pic.twitter.com/gI6uANHAVP — Mara Gottfried (@MaraGottfried) July 27, 2016

Protesters stayed outside the Governor’s Residence and police reopened Summit Avenue about 5:55 p.m., but closed it about 6:30 p.m., when they began making arrests again. Officers arrested 19 people for public nuisance and unlawful assembly, with Linders saying people had continued to block the sidewalk.

While it appeared that most protesters were trying to comply with police orders to clear the street and sidewalk, Linders said there were reports of protesters throwing things at vehicles when the street was open. There also have been complaints of property damage and graffiti, he said.

Summit Avenue remained closed as of 8 a.m. Wednesday.

“We intend to keep it closed until it is safe to reopen,” Linders said.

The city has now posted this on Summit near Oxford. pic.twitter.com/uzhl0Uotgt — Mara Gottfried (@MaraGottfried) July 26, 2016

A.J. Simmons was among the many protesters who had left by the time the evening arrests started, but he was back at the corner of Oxford and Summit later along with a growing and determined group facing the officers blocking the street.

Simmons, of St. Paul, said he hasn’t had any problems with police himself but he knows enough people who have that he’s starting to feel unsafe.

“Just because it doesn’t happen to me I’m not going to sit around and let other people get bullied,” Simmons said.

As night fell the number of protesters swelled to more than 100, forming a line facing the police and deputies blocking access to the Governor’s Residence. Protesters danced and chanted at Oxford and Summit, interfering with traffic until police blocked access to the intersection from surrounding streets.

Several times over the hours police announced that the protesters were participating in an unlawful assembly and they were subject to arrest. Each time the group reacted with a renewed round of chants.

Finally, about 2 a.m. Wednesday, an officer announced, “You are all under arrest” and the line of police pushed the protesters out of the intersection. Those who remained in the intersection were restrained with zipties and loaded onto a bus to Ramsey County jail. A St. Paul police spokesman said 23 were arrested and cited for public nuisance and unlawful assembly.

Summit Avenue remained closed after 3 a.m. with just a handful of protesters remaining on the perimeter of the area.

Here's one more look at police and #GovMansion protesters across the way before I head out. Quiet here now. pic.twitter.com/RIgyoSRejW — Mara Gottfried (@MaraGottfried) July 27, 2016

After the demonstration began on July 7 outside the Governor’s Residence, Gov. Mark Dayton said he would not ask those protesting in front of the mansion to leave and that he supported their ability to express their rights in accordance with the law.

Dayton did not request Tuesday’s police action; it was the decision of the St. Paul police department, said spokesman Sam Fettig.

As of midmorning Wednesday, Summit was closed to car traffic from Milton Street to Lexington Parkway, and closed even to pedestrians in the block of the governor’s mansion.

Law enforcement vehicles and officers from a variety of agencies, including the state patrol, blockaded the street on either end.

Scholarship in Castile’s honor

The St. Paul Central Foundation will create a scholarship in Philando Castile’s honor. A fundraiser is planned for Aug. 21 at the Dunning lots at Griggs Street and Marshall Avenue. For information and to RSVP, go online to https://centralhonorsphilando.splashthat.com/

Marino Eccher contributed to this report.