SPPD

3/13: See also article from The Mac Weekly

UPDATE 3-7: New documents acquired: Property Receipt (PDF) | Search Warrant Application (PDF) - The search warrant application reveals the investigation was in relation to a smashed Minneapolis Police squad car at 6th and Wabasha on September 1st. However, none of the items of clothing worn by the saboteur were found in the raided room. The application cites undercover surveillance of the RNC Welcoming Committee and Students for a Democratic Society.

According to a search warrant and first-hand account submitted to Twin Cities Indymedia, St. Paul Police executed an RNC-related raid on February 13 at a Macalester College dorm room, with the cooperation of Macalester staff. Although it appears the occupant of the room was not the initial target of the investigation, political literature was seized and has yet to be returned.

SPPD Sargeant Julie Maidment prepared and executed the warrant for the residence of a person with “tattoos on both arms”; the person living in the room has none. The warrant listed common household items and clothes including torn blue jeans, a black jacket or shirt, and black shoes with red laces. Click here for a copy of the search warrant and below, read the first-hand account.

Friday morning, on the fourth day of trial, Ramsey County District Court Judge Michael Fetsch dismissed all charges against the "Wall 7," some of the first activists to go to trial in connection with the RNC. The seven activists from the Northeast were facing 4 trumped-up misdemeanor charges after being penned in with about 30 others by a Mobile Field Force and SPPD bicycle unit at 6th and Wall Streets on September 1, 2008.

See also: More info from NLG Lawyers Jordan Kushner and Ken Tilsen | Press Release from the Wall 7 defendants | Interview with Drew Wilson via Worcester IMC

by Friends of the RNC 8

Today (Wednesday, January 14) at 3:30 the so-called “Heffelfinger-Luger Commission” is set to release its report on RNC policing before the St. Paul City Council. The commission is led by two former federal prosecutors and includes former cops, a former mayor, and a token civil rights professor - hardly a representative sample of those affected by the RNC - and despite being three weeks overdue still apparently does not include any review of police brutality or misconduct.

At a press conference Thursday at the State Capitol, a diverse group of concerned citizens expressed outrage at the efforts of St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington and Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher to portray violence at the Republican National Convention as protester-led. Videos and photographs revealed at the Capitol were just some of numerous sources showing that the overwhelming majority of confrontations were a direct result of police over-reach and brutality.

CRASS Press Release | Coverage in Twin Cities Daily Planet | Read more for photos

Communities United Against Police Brutality
URGENT ACTION CALL OUT
November 2, 2008
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THIS TUESDAY: STOP POLICE INTIMIDATION AT THE POLLS!

UPDATE 10/23: Photos from the rally

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Organized by Communities United Against Police Brutality, the first major protest in St. Paul after the Republican National Convention begins at 4:30pm at Wabasha Street and Kellogg Boulevard in downtown on Wednesday. Twin Cities Indymedia will be there! If you attend, publish your pictures, video or thoughts here after you get back!

From the calendar:

OCTOBER 22 NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY,
REPRESSION AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF A GENERATION

From mass police brutality during the RNC to the everyday brutality against people of color and poor people in the streets and in the jails, something has got to be done to end the reign of terror.