MINNEAPOLIS — Sara Jane Olson, the St. Paul woman who served seven years in prison for her involvement in 1970s left-wing criminal plots, lost her appeal Monday to overturn her conviction for blocking Interstate 94 during a protest in Minneapolis two years ago.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld a Hennepin County District Court ruling that convicted Olson of a petty misdemeanor, requiring her to pay a $378 fine. She argued that the state lacked evidence to find her guilty of using a controlled-access highway as a pedestrian.
Olson was in a large group of protesters arrested and charged in November 2020 after marching onto I-94 from the entrance ramp at Cedar Avenue, in response to calls from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression for nationwide protests the day after the presidential election.
