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Kia Farhang

U of M medical students join national wave of 'die-ins'

Die-in
Students from the University of Minnesota's Medical School and School of Public Health staged a die-in to protest the killings of black men by white police officers, at the university in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014.
Blair Emerson / The Minnesota Daily via AP

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Nearly 100 medical students, many in their white lab coats, drew confused looks from passersby with a "die-in" at the University of Minnesota on Wednesday.

They protested recent grand jury decisions not to indict police officers for killing unarmed black men in Missouri and New York.

The students, who lay on the second floor of the school's Malcolm Moos Health Sciences Tower for about five minutes, also hoped to draw attention to racial health disparities that they say contribute to violence against communities of color.

"I think it is very oft-touted that Minnesota is this really healthy place to be," said Julen Harris, a second-year medical student who helped organize the protest. "But for whom? That is not true across the board."

Minnesota consistently ranks as one of the healthiest states in the country. But racial gaps in health persist, according to the state health department. Rates of obesity and infant mortality, for example, are higher among Minnesotans of color than their white peers.

Wednesday's protest was one of more than 50 at medical schools nationwide, according to Physicians for a National Health Program. Similar demonstrations took place in Chicago, New York and other cities.

• Related: Meet the young activists behind the I-35W shutdown