Minneapolis - As Twin Cities security officers prepare to honor the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by holding civil disobedience trainings at schools and churches around the metropolitan area, area security contractor Securitas indefinitely suspended two security officers who participated in such a nonviolent protest last Thursday at the IDS Center. The illegal retaliatory measure was immediately met with new unfair labor practice charges filed by the security officers union, SEIU Local 26.

"It's our job to protect and defend our community every day, and that's exactly what we did last Thursday," said Darrell Siewert, a security officer for the Minneapolis Public Housing Agency who participated in Thursday's civil disobedience in the Crystal Court. "We're standing up for affordable health care for every Minnesotan, but these companies would rather try to intimidate us than address the problem," added Siewert, who has been forced to file for bankruptcy multiple times due to medical debt and recently had his vehicle repossessed for the same reason.

Thursday's demonstration marked the first time in U.S. history that private security officers took the extraordinary measure of principled non-compliance with the law, and it was the second act of civil disobedience in eight days calling on Twin Cities business leaders like US Bancorp and Ameriprise to support affordable health care for Minnesota's working families. Twin Cities security officers held a one day strike on Monday, February 25 - the first of its kind in the area - to highlight the need for affordable health care. Another strike could come at any time as five security companies continue to refuse to return to bargaining after their officers overwhelmingly rejected their last proposal two weeks ago.