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Police: Woman charged with child neglect, resisting arrest during St. Petersburg protest

"We support protesting, but not this," Mayor Rick Kriseman wrote on Twitter.
Credit: St. Petersburg Police Department

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — She let her child sit in the middle of the road to block traffic during a protest, according to an arrest affidavit.

Erin Kennedy, 37, was arrested Saturday morning during a protest in St. Petersburg and charged with child neglect and resisting arrest. According to the affidavit, she allowed her child to sit in the middle of the road, blocking traffic. 

At one point, the child stood directly in front of a car driving through the area and was barely seen by the driver before driving down the road. 

Kennedy then "slowly and casually" walked to her child, stood in front of the car with child "for several seconds" and then picked them up before leaving the street. The affidavit said two people witnessed this happening. 

The protest happened on 3rd Avenue N. between 60th Street N. and 61st Street N.

As she was being arrested on child neglect charges, a separate affidavit said she resisted arrest. After she was handcuffed, she refused to comply with officers and became "dead weight" at least twice while officers tried to move her to a patrol car. Officers had to physically pick her up and bring her to her feet both times, the affidavit said.

The affidavit for child neglect lists a bond of $5,000 and the one for resisting arrest shows a $150 bond. 

On Sunday, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman wrote about the arrest on social media, saying in part, "We support protesting, but not this."

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