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Organizations Ready Lawsuits Against Police In Convention Cities
Political activists and legal groups are preparing to file multiple lawsuits against the cities and police departments of Denver and St. Paul because of their treatment of convention protesters.
Police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters outside the Republican convention last week. Political activists and legal groups are preparing to file multiple lawsuits against the cities and police departments of Denver and St. Paul because of their treatment of convention protesters. (Times Online/UK) The groups say protesters demonstrating against the war in Iraq and other issues in both cities were mistreated and their civil rights were violated.
The National Lawyers Guild of Minnesota is preparing multiple suits against authorities in St. Paul on behalf of protesters, according to the group. They say protesters were illegally detained and their First Amendment rights were violated.
"Over the course of the week people here in the Twin Cities saw a level of police repression that was unheard of for us," said Jess Sundin, a spokesman for the Coalition to March on the RNC [Republican National Convention] and Stop the War. "But I was very impressed that people came out anyway and demonstrated tremendous strength and conviction."
She said she believed the thousands of delegates, politicians and members of the media who descended on the city last week heard their messages clearly.
More than 800 were arrested at the GOP convention in St. Paul - many fewer than the 1,800 arrested at the 2004 GOP convention in New York City.
Re-Create 68, a protest group in Denver, plans to file similar suits against Denver authorities. They also complain that detained protesters were held in extremely cold cells.
Far more people were arrested at this year's Democratic National Convention in Denver than in the previous convention in Boston. More than 150 people were arrested in Denver, compared to six in Boston.
Protest groups charged Denver authorities with using excessive force against protesters in several instances.
They cite the case of Alicia Forrest, who was arrested during a Denver protest. Video of Forrest being shoved to the ground by a policeman wielding a baton has been viewed over 328,000 times in a YouTube video taken by the Rocky Mountain News.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is planning to represent her in a lawsuit against the city and the police department.
Also in Denver, an ABC News reporter was arrested and charged with trespassing and interfering with official business as he and a camera crew attempted to take pictures of Democratic senators and donors leaving a private meeting at a hotel. He was released on $500 bond later that day and has continued to garner support from civil rights groups.
"Arresting a reporter for simply doing his job is both unconstitutional and un-American," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, in a statement. "That free speech is curtailed during the Democratic convention underscores the need for continued protection of civil liberties, regardless of the party in power."
Tear gas, pepper spray and police in riot gear were a common sight at both conventions, but several instances of vandalism and property destruction added to the mayhem of the St. Paul protests. Anarchists and demonstrators broke from permitted marches and smashed store windows, lit fires in the street and damaged a police cruiser.
St. Paul police said while they hoped the week would have resulted in fewer arrests, they also had worried that more of the estimated 8,000 demonstrators would be violent.
"It's unfortunate, but on balance I think it's fewer than some people expected," said Tom Walsh, a spokesman for St. Paul police. "We had planned for much more violent activity [than occurred], but we were able to intervene."
One reason might be the aggressive actions police took in advance of the convention.
The weekend before the RNC began, police raided local houses and arrested at least five members of protest groups, such as the RNC Welcoming Committee. Police obtained items they said were to be used against police, including roofing nails, ropes, computers and cell phones. They also charged those arrested with conspiracy to riot.
Walsh said these arrests helped keep anyone from being seriously injured throughout the week. However, some groups, including the lawyers' guild, condemned the arrests, saying police seized everyday household items and claimed they were to be employed for mayhem.
No life-threatening injuries were reported in Denver, but the city's authorities did have a high-profile scare.
Days into the Democratic National Convention, police arrested three men whom they said made threats against Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's (Ill.) life. Though arrested with guns and drugs, authorities have since dismissed the severity of the threats, saying that they were not "credible."
Charges against many protesters in Denver have been dropped, while most of those still faced with fines or court actions have posted bail. Charges included obstructing police, remaining in an unlawful assembly and throwing stones.
The ACLU of Colorado has written letters to the Denver City Attorney and the Denver Sheriff's department complaining about the conditions in which those detained were kept. They say police did not provide all of the arrested protesters with access to legal representation and kept them in uncomfortable physical conditions, including extremely cold holding cells.
"I'm thinking we should watch what we ask for, because in our early letters to the city we were emphasizing that they needed to think about air conditioning, and now we're complaining that there's too much air conditioning," said Mark Silverstein, legal director for the ACLU of Colorado, pointing to the irony of the situation.
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29 Comments so far
Show AllThe glaringly obvious fact that these actions have absolutely no chance whatsoever in courts with republican judges cannot deter patriotic and progressive groups from pursuing a remedy in the courts foe the police thuggery, especially in St. Paul. Intimidation on all fronts is the order of the day in Bush and Cheney's America and the NLGM is right to confront these abuses.
q
I believe your view of the courts is too simplistic. Some judges still believe in law and evidence. For instance, please consider all of the court ordered payoffs for false arrests made during peace demonstrations and in other contexts. If you are too bleak in your view, it leads to missed opportunities.
Lawsuits are a form of resistance that should not be discounted.
Joe
I never discounted the value of lawsuits as a form of resistance. Even though the suits discussed in the article are ultimately doomed to failure, I clearly pointed out that it's a good - and brave - idea to file them.
No, Bush and Cheney have not been able to eliminate integrity completely from US courts but they have done so at the highest levels.
q
Based on the number of successful lawsuits from the 2004 RNC, there is good reason to hope that these lawsuits will prevail.
On Democracy Now yesterday it was mentioned that the RNC took out a massive insurance policy for civil unrest. The effect was to protect police, give them the assurance that they were covered. The details of this insurance policy should be the subject of further investigation and would be worthy of an article.
Can someone help me out, I can’t find any links to Obama’s speech where he promises to change the way police make mass arrests of these terrorists like Amy Goodman and the other reporters and demonstrators.
Gee, but I guess that you can show us McCain's speech on the same topic. Right?
q
I believe, like most here, McCain represents the status quo. Is Obama’s silence on this issue, like McCain’s, your definition of change?
AIPAC has two sock puppets - one on each greedy hand.
Have you not been paying attention?
McCain is touting himself as THE agent of change. Accordingly, my criticism is appropriate.
q
Didn't you see McCain's TV ad, he's reformed Washington before, so vote for him so he can do it again.
Domestic war profiteers...
cop 1- hey guys let's buy some new weapons to try out on the 'angry' hippies when they come to town for the convention.
cop 2- Killer dude! That sounds great. Infact let's turn it into a big old training event and invite departments from all over the country to come learn how to stomp heads in this new corporate century.
cop 3- yeah yeah! stomp heads!
blackwater CEO- peace is our profession. Let us amp up your clamp down for the low price of everything you've got.
cop 1- ok you guys are hired too. Just don't wear any name badges this time, ok?
cop 3 - anybody gonna eat that last donut?
cop 2- I want to be a rooftop sniper at the concert.
cop 1- ok guys this going to be fun but let's buy some insurance so we'll be sure to make money even when those activist judges prosecute us in the long run.
blackwater CEO- now you guys are thinking. Just don't think too hard... I still need you on my team.
cop 3- I'm not sure what you just said, but I like it.
cop 1- Long live the new corporate century!
Sue the cops pictured doing the brutalizing, not just the city or the department.
Many of the reports said that the police hide their identity in violation of rules, no badge #'s or name plates. I bet if you pushed it with the authorities they would tell you the government can practice civil- disobedience too.
The suits need to go beyond the normal tactics based on the information available:
1) The city pre-emptively coordinated an insurance rider with the RNC for $10 million to deal with post event law suits. Come on folks, they planned on not giving the protesters their rights and hedged against the financial cost with insurance.
2) The city did not actively train their staff or hired contractors to protect first amendment rights.
3) They hired contractors. I haven't seen this one confirmed yet, but come on folks these weren't just your St. Paul and Minneapolis police forces. They were contract security, with absolutely no training about constitutional rights.
Wake up America! While we play the same old game over and over, our Constitution is being shredded with each redundant action in each city where this happens. Cities are ripe for herding people around...the actions need to evolve. Time for change.
Lawyers are sometimes good.
http://i2.democracynow.org/2008/8/21/nyc_agrees_to_pay_52_anti
Where are the "good cops" dissenting against this sort of behavior?
Do "good cops" even exist?
Where are the "good lawyers" dissenting against this sort of behavior?
Do "good lawyers" even exist?
Looking at the picture, you can perhaps see how cops earned the (hippie, was it?) nickname of "pigs". Dear oh dear, there are some fat boys there. Or is it perhaps part of the job description?
police arrested three men whom they said made threats against Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's life. Though arrested with guns and drugs, authorities have since dismissed the severity of the threats, saying that they were not "credible."
If they were Muslim, instead of white, and made threats against Bush or Cheney, instead of a black man, they would already be in Gitmo being tortured to death.
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
The cops in the picture look like pig clones. If there were still "Service Stations" they'd be pumping gas and washing windshields. We,, then again, they don't look that smart.
Scratch Open A Cynic And You Will Find An Angry Idealist.
How about suing the insurance company for obstruction of justice, since they're trying to make a buck off of pre-planned police illegalities?
"charged with trespassing and interfering with official business as he and a camera crew attempted to take pictures of Democratic senators and donors leaving a private meeting at a hotel"
A private exchange (bribe) by capitalist production occupiers of their puppets in the US Senate is NOT offical business! The charge of interference with bribery is bogus!
"Anarchists and demonstrators broke from permitted marches and smashed store windows, lit fires in the street and damaged a police cruiser."
who? anarchists and demonstrators? u sure they weren't on the rnc payroll?
“I think anybody who doesn’t think I’m smart enough to handle the job is underestimating.”
[George W. Bush]
The $10 million insurance policy paid for by the RNC was insisted upon by St. Paul's mayor, so that the city would be covered if things got rough.
The 3,500 extra police were recruited from around the country and trained for about a year by Homeland Security and the FBI. They were professional officers. The city councils of Minneapolis and Saint Paul (with some dissenters) unfortunately voted to allow the FBI and the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office to be in charge, which gave us the Patriot Act and Cheney paranoia in black uniforms.
City cops were, I believe, their normal polite selves, but the officers in riot gear and on motorcycles and in cars with screaming sirens over-reacted to every episode of property damage. Instead of arresting the very few who were actually committing crimes, they would sweep up everyone in sight (thus 800-plus arrested in four days but only 100 or fewer charged). This is what the FBI trained them to do.
Journalists were included in the sweeps and occasionally, like Amy Goodman, had their credentials ripped off their necks. Citizens trained as emergency medics who knew how to help people whose skin was burning from pepper-spray and whose eyes had had mace sprayed into them were also targeted for arrest by some cops.
I would guess that, like the majority of demonstrators, many police officers were not guilty of violating people's civil rights or of brutal treatment. Like the few demonstrators who were violent, however, the crimes committed against citizens by those who are sworn to protect them should get a lot of scrutiny.
What we are seeing is the mercenary army the "government" has been recruiting to quell dissent as it arises in the US; the privatization of municipal police and the federalization of local police.
There is no excuse for the so called protesters actions. If you act like assholes you get treated like assholes.
William John Cox
On the subject, please see: ROBOCOPS: PROFESSIONAL POLICING OF POLITICAL PROTEST
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10128
Why do all the cops these days look like they are on steroids? Because they are! That must be stopped, immediately. Steroids make you big, yes, but they also make you aggressive towards any and everything. Random aggression. Stopping antiwar demonstrators kills soldiers; their supposed compatriots. I would like to say the cops, as human beings, if they are still that, are simply lost, no thought, no understanding of their world. They appear to be just a mass of testosterone and steroids coursing through the veins of the remanants of a man. They live in a closed society, only associating with their own, always in agreement with eachother. Planet-of-the-apes.
real world September 10th, 2008 9:02 am
Your post is like a breath of fresh air in a garbage dump, unfortunately your fresh air will pass and the garbage will remain.