Free Press staff, wire reports

ST. PAUL, Minn.

The youngest son of U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia was one of six people arrested while protesting at rally of President Trump’s supporters last weekend at the Minnesota Capitol.

Sen. Kaine ran for vice president in November with Hillary Clinton, President Trump’s Democratic Party opponent.

In a scene that played out at similar rallies, anti-Trump protesters in St. Paul clashed with hundreds of Trump supporters who had gathered at the Capitol rotunda Saturday to extol the president.

Linwood “Woody” Kaine of nearby Minneapolis was among protesters alleged to have set off a smoke bomb inside the Capitol to disrupt the Trump rally, St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders said Wednesday.

Mr. Kaine, 24, ran from the scene and was arrested about a block away. He was taken into custody after he was pepper-sprayed for resisting, according to Mr. Linders.

Mr. Kaine was booked into the Ramsey County Jail on a recommended second degree riot charge, but was released Tuesday after the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office declined to file criminal charges.

Prosecutors found insufficient evidence to substantiate the charge, according to office spokesman Dennis Gerhardstein.

The St. Paul City Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case, but has yet to say whether that office would bring charges.

Sen. Kaine, a St. Paul native, and his wife, Anne Holton, released a statement following their son’s arrest.

“We love that our three children have their own views and concerns about current political issues,” they stated. “They fully understand the responsibility to express those concerns peacefully.”