All posts in the topic RNC Reaches into NE MPLS (Short link)
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- There are 8 posts — by 7 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Mike Fratto at Aug 29 00:29 UTC
Below is a press release about independent journalists detained and equipment
seized in NE MPLS early this morning.
The press conference is TODAY, at 4:00 PM at Henn. Co. Gov't. Ctr. plaza
Tom Taylor
Montevideo, MN via of NE MPLS
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Vlad T 917- 650- 2486
MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICERS DETAINS INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS AND CONFISCATES
THEIR EQUIPMENT
MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DETAIN THREE INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS, CONFISCATING VIDEO
EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER, PHONES, NOTEBOOKS AND MONEY AMONG OTHER PERSONAL
BELONGINGS
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (August 26, 2008) – Minneapolis Police officers detained
three journalists early this morning, confiscating each of the their personal
belongings including cell phones, video cameras, still cameras, a computer,
hard drive, clothing, personal objects and money. The journalists are all
members of New York City based Glass Bead Collective and are in town to
document the events around the Republican National Convention. Police officer
York photographed the three journalists and questioned them individually about
their travel plans and what they intended to report on. The officers refused
to file an official report of the incident or a receipt of the items taken,
claiming that they were allowed to conduct the search and seizure under the
jurisdiction of Homeland Security due to security risks leading up to the
Republican National Convention.
The journalists were detained and then released after their belongings were
seized. The journalists were clear that they did not consent to being searched
at any point during the detainment.
It will be interesting to see how the media reports this and how St. Paul Police and the RNC planners respond to this. Not to mention how the Minneapolis Chief of Police responds. Mike Fratto Payne Phalen Please help those who don't get enough to eat. http://oyh.org http://hungersolutions.org The future depends more on what we do between now and then Than what we did in the past.
Janet Nye: "A little known fact about the upcoming RNC is that the police will
be indemnified by the Republican National Committee. I know it applies to St
Paul and Mpls police and am almost sure it applies to the police coming in from
other places. Lawsuits against the police will be paid for by the Republican
Party. This is an ugly statement about the Republican Party's attitude toward
free speech. And I wouldn't be surprised if the situation is the same in
Colorado at the DNC. Some city officials are happy about not having to worry
about lawsuits but it should be of concern to us all that the police will be
operating with even less restriction than usual."
This concerns me more than a little. In effect, the police are working for the
GOP, not St. Paul. It makes the police officers akin to employees of Blackwater
and other armies of mercenaries.
This is not good.
WIZARD MARKS wrote:
>
> This concerns me more than a little. In effect, the police are working for
the GOP, not St. Paul. It makes the police officers akin to employees of
Blackwater and other armies of mercenaries.
>
This is a little over the top.
The alternative to is to have the taxpayers of individual cities hold
the liability for lawsuits.
The RNC is already offsetting, in cooperation with the host committee,
many of the additional expenses for city/county services, including
police, fire, EMS, etc.
The police are under the control of local authorities except in the Xcel
Arena where the Secret Service rules.
However, these big events seldom pay for themselves. Remember the Super
Bowl? It pretty much killed off the Saint Paul Winter Carnival for
almost a decade.
Marc Asch:
> However, these big events seldom pay for themselves.
> Remember the Super Bowl? It pretty much killed off
> the Saint Paul Winter Carnival for almost a decade.
I know I've been out of town for, umm, 15 years, but
it did? How? (Seriously -- I didn't know that the
Winter Carnival was pretty much killed off, or how the
Super Bowl would do it.)
I remember asking St Paul city attorney John Choi this question last fall
during one of those public information meetings. The specific question I asked
him was the following: If lawsuits from all actions of city employees are
covered under the insurance policy purchased by the convention committee, what
financial incentive to St Paul police have to act only within the law.
Mr Choi did not dispute that St Paul considered itself completely exempt from
any lawsuits. Instead he responded with a traffic analogy. He said that, just
because you had a car that could go 190 miles per hour (or whatever speed he
said), that didn't mean that you would do that speed down a residential street.
In other words (mine), trust us, we're good people.
Fine, Mr Choi, then I expect to hear not one more case of a single police
officer responding with unnecessary force. I expect none of the 1.9 million
dollars of chemical weapons purchased for the convention to be used against the
citizens of St Paul. I expect every single constitutional amendment to be
upheld. Which means no more harassing journalists, no more threatening people
because they have a piercing or a tattoo, no helicopters flying low overhead,
no covered badge numbers, etc. If we are truly to expect that our police
officers are perfect, then they must truly behave as gods. Otherwise, the deal
is off.
For my part, I find it difficult to believe that St Paul police would not be
held responsible for their actions while in city employ, no matter what
contract St Paul believes it signed in order to escape the responsibility of
governance. My guess is that there WILL be lawsuits, and that the city of St
Paul WILL lose money in them. My guess is that future courts eventually WILL
find the city of St Paul liable for the actions of the police, that Mr Choi is
as wrong about this contract as he is about the flawed nature of police
officers.
As far as Wizard Marks' comment that having the St Paul police work for the
Republican party is akin to Blackwater in Iraq, I disagree with Marc Ash that
she is "over the top." In my view, it's worse. In Iraq (and in New Orleans),
the mercenary company Blackwater was hired by elements of the U.S. government
to do jobs that we no longer draft people to do. In the case of the RNC, on
the other hand, we have not used a private company for public goals. Instead,
we have hired out our public police department to do the work of a private
political party's security guards, putting public employees under private
supervision.
I would also note that the Star Tribune reported two weeks ago that there is
ALSO a million dollar contract out there for private security guards to be
employed during the convention. No other details have been released by the
press. So it could quite specifically be Blackwater or Triple Canopy or one of
the other mercenary companies of Iraq infamy. We just don't know which company
got the contract. I suppose we'll find out next week ... or some of us will.
Charley, I understand your concern. Especially after yesterday's event. However, what is the option? First of all the insurance is to protect the city. It has nothing to do with a Police officers actions. Although, that is usually what causes the lawsuit. The individual employee, if they are doing their job appropriately, are protected from personal damages regarding this lawsuits. However, if it is shown the employee acted in a manner not consistent with the policies and practices of the job they may be sued directly. That said, that is a pretty tough hoop to jump through. Regardless of the event scheduled for the Excel Center or any other venue, the local police department and sheriff's office are responsible for protecting the public and property. There is absolutely nothing different between the RNC and the Lions International Convention held 8 years ago, or for that matter the DNC. That is related t the business of the conventions and those attending the various events related to the Convention. So why is there a need for all this additional security force? It is not from those attending the convention. It is from those who think they have a right to threaten public safety or cause damage to property, as part of their first amendment right to protest. I don't know who hired the extra Million dollars in Security forces. But based on what I have learned over the past many months, I would think most of this money was spent by individual office holders and/or their campaigns. Of course, I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. Evidently, you are correct in being concerned about the action of police officers. However, it should be noted these are Minneapolis officers not St. Paul. However, I will predict that as much as our local peace officers try to do their job without incident there will be those in the various protests that will do everything they can to get them to react. That, after all, is the reason these people come to these events. Mike Fratto Payne Phalen Please help those who don't get enough to eat. http://oyh.org http://hungersolutions.org The future depends more on what we do between now and then Than what we did in the past.