[Peace-discuss] "RNC review" -- St. Paul City Council hears from public on RNC [from Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

[Stuart Levy]

Newspaper report of a meeting in St. Paul on Wednesday evening,
passed along by my mother who lives in the area:

   http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/29727009.html

Grimly note the Sheriff's account of the risk had the police not acted:
     
   "Had they not been confronted at 3 o'clock, and had we gotten into a
   nighttime environment where they could've destroyed windows under the
   cover of darkness, much of this town would have been destroyed,"
   Fletcher said.

Heard separately from my mother, who lives in the area, that it's been
announced there'll be no investigation into police misconduct.  Feh.
I guess those questions will have to wait for the lawsuits.

Article follows...

   Unconventional evening: RNC review
   CHRIS HAVENS, Star Tribune

   More than 200 people packed City Council chambers in St. Paul
   Wednesday night to talk about the Republican National Convention and
   its effects on the community.

   Council Member Dave Thune, who called the meeting, said at the outset
   of the three-hour session there would be no debate, just an
   opportunity to talk: "Let's all listen to each other," he said, as
   people crowded the halls outside, watching TVs, taking in the
   comments.

   But as a vocal critic of the convention who also had raised questions
   about police tactics, Thune came under criticism beforehand during a
   news conference led by Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, who
   described police conduct as "exemplary" and accused Thune of
   sympathizing with anarchist demonstrators.

   "I think the sheriff is prone to hyperbole," Thune said Wednesday
   night. "I am no supporter of criminals."

   During the forum, speakers ranging from business owners to
   demonstrators spoke out, with loud applause often punctuating comments
   decrying police presence and actions. Several people advocated the
   dropping of all charges against protesters.

   Karolyn Kirchgesler, president and CEO of the St. Paul Convention and
   Visitors Authority, said the city should try to leverage the positives
   that came with hosting the convention.

   Sara Remke, who owns the Black Dog Cafe, agreed with the business
   group that business was fine during the event. But as a St. Paul
   resident, she said, she found the police presence during the
   convention "very distressing."

   The convention, held Sept. 1-4 at the Xcel Energy Center, was supposed
   to put St. Paul on a world stage and let everybody know that the
   second-largest city in Minnesota could hold its own among top-tier
   metropolises.

   Mayor Chris Coleman said that the event was a success, both from the
   standpoints of publicity and security. But security has become a major
   point of contention and criticism. Residents weren't used to seeing
   cops clad in riot gear and tall black fencing surrounding parts of
   downtown.

   Deputy Mayor Ann Mulholland sat through the entire session and took
   notes. "It is critically important that we hear every single
   perspective," she said after it ended. The public comments will be
   included in assessments, she added. Coleman and Police Chief John
   Harrington were out of town, but Council Members Melvin Carter III,
   Lee Helgen and Russ Stark did join Thune at the session.

   Police tactics decried

   Some have criticized police and accused them of making unnecessary
   arrests, using excessive force and wantonly deploying crowd-control
   devices. More than 800 people, including dozens of working news media
   members, were arrested in St. Paul and Minneapolis during the four-day
   event.

   The 818 arrests were less than half of the total made during the 2004
   Republican National Convention in New York. But the Twin Cities
   arrests far outpaced the numbers recorded during the six other GOP and
   Democratic conventions held since 1996.

   Pre-convention raids also outraged some.

   Bruce Nestor, president of the Minnesota chapter of the National
   Lawyers Guild, said Wednesday night that police put on "a massive and
   overwhelming show of force," claiming that much of it was targeted to
   suppress political activity.

   Many local officials, however, have said police acted appropriately,
   and the convention went off with few hitches. Another community
   conversation will be held, Thune said, but it might be part of broader
   reviews of police plans and actions that are in the works.

   Extraordinary work

   On Wednesday afternoon, Fletcher went on the offensive in a 70-minute
   news conference during which he accused Thune of sympathizing with
   anarchists and failing to recognize what the sheriff described as
   extraordinary police work at a time of chaos.

   Using maps, photos and video recordings, he broke down the activities
   of anarchists between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the convention's first
   day, and he noted how police waited four hours before deploying mobile
   field force units to challenge them.

   Out-of-state arrestees

   "Had they not been confronted at 3 o'clock, and had we gotten into a
   nighttime environment where they could've destroyed windows under the
   cover of darkness, much of this town would have been destroyed,"
   Fletcher said.

   Covering the walls in the room were the booking sheets of the hundreds
   of people who were arrested during that first day -- more than 80
   percent of whom were from outside of Minnesota, Fletcher noted after
   the news conference.

   Neither the sheriff's office nor the police department had received an
   Internal Affairs complaint of police misconduct, he added.

   Dave Titus, president of the St. Paul Police Federation, who also
   spoke at the news conference, said that there was significant damage
   to property, "but in the big picture, it could have been much, much,
   much worse" and that "minimal force was used."

   Neither Titus nor Fletcher spoke Wednesday night.

   Thune indicated that he would schedule more listening sessions if
   there were enough interest, but Fletcher said: "We're not going to be
   part of any gathering that implies that we should be sympathetic to
   the anarchists that were bent on destroying St. Paul."

   [3]chavens at startribune.com o 651-298-1542

   [4]alonetree at startribune.com o 651-298-1545

References

   1. http://www.startribune.com/
   2. http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/29727009.html
   3. mailto:chavens at startribune.com
   4. mailto:alonetree at startribune.com