Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/police-brutality/page/14/)
by Paul Schmelzer, September 15, 2008 • One of the more disturbing clips, of way too many, from the Republican National Convention, is this one showing Leah Lane being repeatedly blasted with pepperspray by Minneapolis police officers who knock her down with their bikes. Continue Reading
Hey, someone’s been eating my constitutional rights!After St. Paul announced last week that a man named Heffelfinger would review law enforcement during the Republican National Convention, a local TV station trumpeted what would seem to be Goldilocks’ view on the matter. This weekend’s SurveyUSA/KSTP-TV poll reported that – in Three-Bears fashion – 60 percent of Minnesotans surveyed chose “Just About Right” as the best answer to this question: “How do you think law enforcement handled the arrests of hundreds of protesters during the Republican National Convention?”
“Just About Right?” Does that mean 60 percent of Minnesotans think that 45 is just about the right number of journalists to be arrested and detained? So 53 would have been too aggressive, 36 not quite aggressive enough? And 27 medics in cuffs is perfect — why, because it’s 3 X 3 X 3? Continue Reading
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman announced late Tuesday afternoon that the city will undergo an outside review of the public safety effort tied to the Republican National Convention — but its limited scope may not satisfy calls from various quarters for independent review of police misconduct. Leading the charge is former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger, who now works for Minneapolis law firm Best & Flanagan, and Andy Luger, previously an assistant U.S. attorney who is employed at Greene Espel in Minneapolis. They’ll be putting a team together to perform the assessment and define its parameters, according to a statement from the mayor’s office. The timeline for the study and other details are yet to be nailed down, according to mayoral spokesman Bob Hume. Continue Reading
by Eleanor Arnason • I found a piece by Ray McGovern in Common Dreams on police action in St. Paul.
This sounds as nasty as I had feared: police spies and infiltrators and police preemptive strikes against people doing nothing illegal.
The St. Paul City Council? Only one member had the courage to speak out — Councilman Dave Thune, who was particularly enraged that Sheriff Fletcher took action within St. Paul city limits:
Continue Reading
by Grace Kelly on MN Blue • I am an equal opportunity critic, More thought and reflection will be needed, however here is the first pass at looking at the police effort before looking at other efforts.
Cabbages and Kings is a multi-author TC Daily Planet blog that offers space to interesting but hard-to-categorize blog submissions, in the sole discretion of the editors.
On the morning after arrests of more than a dozen journalists, journalists and advocates for freedom of the press delivered a strong rebuke and call for action to city officials in St. Paul. Twin Cities Media Alliance organizer Nancy Doyle delivered a letter with more than 50,000 signatures to St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, St. Paul City Attorney John Choi, and Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner’s offices. Continue Reading
Minneapolis City Council Members Gary Schiff and Cam Gordon issued a call this afternoon for an independent investigation of police actions during the Republican National Convention (RNC). Read their full statement below the jump. Today’s call follows two earlier statements on RNC policing statements from city council corridors in Minneapolis and St. Paul. On Tuesday, Gordon and City Council Member Elizabeth Glidden decried police intimidation that chills free speech and called on authorities to provide a safe space for political expression. Continue Reading
Police brutality is alleged after a July 20 arrest of Darryl Robinson, vice president of the Minneapolis-based Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB). Robinson was a successful plaintiff in a 2003 civil rights lawsuit against the Minneapolis Police Department.Describing the latest incident, Robinson says: “I was down there doin’ cop watching, The police rolled up in the area. They were telling people to move out of the area.” Robinson says he was with a group of people known as “copwatchers”, an assembly of people armed with video cameras, whose goal it is to monitor police brutality.The arrest took place in the area of 10th Street and 1st Avenue in Minneapolis, near the Greyhound bus station. There are several homeless shelters in the neighborhood and, according to Robinson, the police have been monitoring the neighborhood heavily in recent weeks.Darryl Robinson described the “Cop Watch” program and his arrest. Continue Reading
“We are not here to make accusations,” Michael Yang declared on behalf of the 500-plus community members who attended a vigil Monday for Fong Lee, the 19-year-old boy who was gunned down by a Minneapolis police officer. “We are here only to seek justice.”However, after comparing the evidence that police had offered with the conflicting eye-witness accounts from nearby neighbors, Yang concisely stated, “We now have more questions than answers.”Police say that on the evening of Saturday, July 22, Minneapolis police officer Jason Andersen and his partner on this particular occasion, state trooper Craig Benz observed what appeared to be a drug transaction among a group of people on the school grounds of Cityview Elementary in north Minneapolis. Still in their squad car, Andersen and Benz approached the group who then dispersed.What the police neglect to reveal, say eye-witnesses including 17-year-old Pang Vang who observed the incident from her back-yard, is that the squad car sped across the grassy field and rammed their car into a fleeing bicycle, knocking down the rider who apparently turned out to be Fong Lee.“It was like they were trying to kill him while he was on his bike,” Vang proclaimed.According to police statements, a foot-chase ensued upon which time Fong brandished a gun, prompting officer Andersen to shoot Fong. In Andersen’s defense, a handgun was eventually found a few feet from Fong’s body. According to interim Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan, however, the gun had not been fired nor were any of Fong’s fingerprints found on that gun.After he had invited himself to speak at the family’s press conference at City Hall, chief Dolan did show edited footage from the school’s three surveillance cameras to family members and a few selected community leaders.According to those who saw that video, parts of the foot-chase are caught on tape but the camera pans away at the moment when officer Andersen shoots Fong. Continue Reading